Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
By relying on an advanced Jones calculus, we analyze the polarization properties of light upon propagation through metamaterial slabs in a comprehensive manner. Based on symmetry considerations, we show that all periodic metamaterials may be divided into five different classes only. It is shown that each class differently affects the polarization of the transmitted light and sustains different eigenmodes. We show how to deduce these five classes from symmetry considerations and provide a simple algorithm that can be applied to decide to which class a given metamaterial belongs by measuring only the transmitted intensities.
Menzel et al. (Mon,) studied this question.