Electric field enhancement in ε-near-zero slabs under TM-polarized oblique incidence

We investigate local-field enhancement phenomena in subwavelength, epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) slabs that do not exploit Fabry-Perot resonances. In particular, we study the linear response of engineered metamaterial slabs of finite thickness based on plasmonic nanoshells that show an ENZ band in the visible range, and naturally occurring materials (e.g., SiO2) that also display ENZ properties, under oblique, TM-polarized plane-wave incidence. We then introduce active gain material in engineered metamaterial slabs that adds peculiar spectral and angular features to transmission, reflection, and absorption properties, and leads to a further local-field enhancement. These findings are supported by two theoretical studies: First, a simple interface between two semi-infinite media, namely free space and a generic ENZ medium; then, an ENZ slab of finite thickness, with the aim of understanding the system's behavior when varying the ENZ properties as well as the incident angle. For either case we report three distinct physical conditions for which we explain spectral and angular features that might result in strong field enhancement. The gain-assisted metamaterial implementation has the potential of triggering and enhancing low-threshold nonlinear phenomena thanks to the large local fields found at specific frequency and angular bands. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.87.035120