Photonic band gap structures composed of exotic materials

We discuss the wave properties of some exotic materials and photonic band gap structures composed of them. The exotic materials under consideration are so-called backward-wave (BW) media or Veselago, media, whose both permittivity and permeability are negative, and so-called wire media with negative permittivity. Considering finite-period one-dimensional PBG structures, whose each period consists of one layer of a usual material and one layer of a BW-medium, we have found that the usage of a negative material makes it possible to dramatically widen the band gap of one-dimensional layered PBG structures. We have studied waveguiding properties of a plane two-layered waveguide, whose one layer is a usual magnetodielectric, but another one is a slab of a BW-material, and have shown a possibility of propagation of super-slow waves in such a waveguide. We demonstrated unusual dispersion properties of photonic crystals, containing wire media described by a uniaxial dyadic of permittivity having one negative component.