Oblique surface josephson plasma waves in layered superconductors

In this paper the theoretical analysis of the oblique surface Josephson plasma waves propagating along a dielectric-layered superconductor interface is first represented. The case when the superconductor layers are perpendicular to the interface is considered. The oblique surface Josephson plasma waves are the surface electromagnetic waves propagating in the interface plane at an arbitrary angle to the superconductor layers. The electromagnetic field of the waves is the superposition of ordinary and extraordinary surface electromagnetic waves. The dispersion equation of the oblique surface Josephson plasma waves has been derived. This equation is the most general dispersion equation of the surface Josephson plasma waves in the case under study. The problem on the excitation of oblique surface Josephson plasma waves by means of the attenuated total reflection method is solved. It has been established that the process of the excitation of oblique surface Josephson plasma waves is accompanied by the onset of an additional reflected wave in the prism with the polarization, being orthogonal to the polarization of the incident wave. It has been found that the reflection coefficient of the exciting wave in the prism can vanish for some optimal parameters of the structure. © 2013 by Begell House, Inc.