Applicability of ferrimagnetic hosts to nanostructured negative index of refraction (left-handed) materials

There has been considerable interest generated by the demonstration of (epsilon) < 0, (mu) < 0 composite materials. These negative index of refraction materials, a subset of the class of materials labeled 'left-handed', possess two different arrays of resonant structures which separately give rise to negative (epsilon) and (mu) over the appropriate microwave frequency interval. Any attempt to significantly increase the operating frequency will require shrinking the resonant elements to a nanostructure. Replacing the array of elements responsible for (mu) < 0 with a nonconducting ferrimagnet significantly reduces the complexity of the resulting nanostructured material. This presentation includes a brief overview of the behavior of negative index of refraction materials and an enumeration of the advantages and disadvantages of using a ferrimagnet to produce (mu) < 0. In addition, calculations of the transmission of electromagnetic waves through a ferrimagnet based negative index of refraction material are presented. In particular, the prospects for operating in the far IR and microwave regimes, pro9blems with the interaction between the (epsilon) < 0 structures and the ferrimagnet, and tunability with externally applied magnetic fields are discussed.