A RECIPROCAL PHASE-SHIFTER USING NOVEL PSEUDOCHIRAL OR OMEGA-MEDIUM

Here we introduce an idea for a reciprocal phase shifter using a novel class of material, which we name pseudochiral or OMEGA-medium. We describe this complex material electromagnetically by a set of bianisotropic constitutive relations, and present the physical insights into the coupling mechanism exhibited in such media. We analyze theoretically the dispersion characteristics of guided modes in a rectangular waveguide loaded partially with a slab of this material. It is shown that the propagation constant beta of guided modes can be shifted due to coupling coefficients present in the medium. It is also shown that, unlike the case of magnetically biased ferrite-loaded waveguide, the dispersion relations here are independent of the direction of propagation, and thus reciprocal phase shifting can be achieved. Potential applications and motivations behind this study are also mentioned.