Polarization Selectivity of a Double DNA-Like Helix as an Element of Metamaterials and Metasurfaces

Abstract

The polarization selectivity of a double DNA-like helix with respect to waves with left and right circular polarization at a resonance characteristic of the periodic structure is confirmed by modeling. As an example, helices of various lengths consisting of two and a half and twenty and a half turns are considered, while the wavelength of the incident field is approximately equal to the length of the helix turn. The effect consists in a radically different ability of a double DNA-like helix to reflect waves with right or left circular polarization at the resonance under consideration. The predominant intensity is a reflected wave with such a direction of circular polarization, in which the electric vector is twisted in space in the opposite direction relative to the double helix. Consequently, on the basis of a double DNA-like helix, an electromagnetic wave polarizer can be created that converts an incident linearly polarized wave into a reflected wave with circular polarization. The electromagnetic forces of interaction between helix strands at three states of polarization of the incident wave are calculated, which also confirms the polarization selectivity of a double DNA-like helix as an element of metamaterials and as an object with great possibilities of use in optics.