Multilayer structures as negative refractive and left-handed materials.

We examine multilayer structures as negative refractive index and left-handed materials, and find that for one polarization there is a wide range (≈90°) of incident angle within which negative refraction will occur. This comes about because the group velocity and the Poynting vector have a large component parallel to the layers, no matter what the angle of incidence of the incoming radiation is. This behaviour in turn comes from the large anisotropy of the phase velocities. If one of the components is a ferromagnetic metal, the system can be a left-handed material above the ferromagnetic resonance frequency.