TEACHING THE PROPAGATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES IN CHIRAL MEDIA BY USING TIME-DOMAIN SIMULATORS

The behavior of the electromagnetic waves in chiral media is characterized by the appearance of a phenomenon called optical activity. The optical activity is the rotation of the polarization plane of a wave as it propagates through a medium. Chirality is present in many biological compounds and is a consequence of the geometry of the molecular structure. Nowadays artificial chiral media for microwave applications can be fabricated introducing small inclusions with chiral symmetry in a host medium. In this work we have performed a number of time-domain simulations to visualize the characteristic phenomena of wave propagation in chiral media. The results of these simulations have been recorded and a collection of videos have been developed to provide aid in the teaching of these phenomena. By means of the visualization of the progression of the fields as they actually evolve in space and time the students will acquire a deeper physical insight into wave propagation in this kind of materials.