Giant optical gyrotropy due to electromagnetic coupling

The authors demonstrate a chiral photonic metamaterial with chirality provided by electromagnetic coupling between mutually twisted unconnected layers. In the visible and near-IR spectral ranges, the material exhibits polarization rotatory power of up to 2500 degrees/mm and shows relatively low losses and negligible circular dichroism, making it a promising candidate for the development of chiral negative index media. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.