Unidirectional Surface Waves in Bi-Anisotropic Media

We show theoretically that unidirectional surface waves can propagate on the surface of homogeneous bi-anisotropic layers with an anti-symmetric chirality tensor. These materials mimic the electromagnetic behavior of an anisotropic medium with gyrotropic permittivity and permeability tensors that operate on pseudo-electromagnetic fields. The unidirectional waves have transverse pseudo-electric or magnetic polarizations and pass through an obstacle without backscattering if the obstacle does not cause polarization change. The bi-anisotropic medium can be realized as a metamaterial comprising omega particles tailored to achieve the constitutive parameters desired.