Nonlinear transmission properties of left-handed metamaterial slab

We analyze the nonlinear properties of microstructured materials which have a negative refractive index, the so-called left-handed metamaterials. We demonstrate that the hysteresis-type dependence of the magnetic permeability on the field intensity allows changing the material properties from left- to right-handed and back again. Using finite-difference time-domain simulations, we study the wave reflection from a slab of nonlinear left-handed material, and observe the propagation of temporal solitons in such materials.