Abstract: We analyze the Bloch oscillations of electromagnetic waves in chirped layered structures with alternating layers of negative-index metamaterial and conventional dielectric under the condition of the zero average refractive index. We consider the case when the chirp is introduced by varying the thickness of the layers linearly across the structure. We demonstrate that such structures can support three different types of the Bloch oscillations for electromagnetic waves associated with either propagating or evanescent guided modes. In particular, we predict a novel type of the Bloch oscillations associated with coupling between surface waves excited at the interfaces separating the layers of negative-index metamaterial and the layers of the conventional dielectric. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.

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