The broad assertion here is that the current hyperbolic metamaterial world is only partially served by investigations that incorporate only some limited version of anisotropy. Even modest deviations of the optic axis from the main propagation axis lead to new phase shifts, which not only compete with those created by absorption but end up dominating them. Some progress has been attempted in the literature by introducing the terms “asymmetric hyperbolic media”, but it appears that this kind of asymmetry only involves an optic axis at an angle to the interface of a uniaxial crystal. From a device point of view, many new prospects should appear and the outcomes of the investigations presented here yield a new general theory. It is emphasised that the orientation of the optic axis is a significant determinant in the resulting optical properties. Whereas for conventional anisotropic waveguides homogeneous propagating waves occur over a limited range of angular dispositions of the optic axis it is shown that for a hyperbolic guide a critical angular setting exists, above which the guided waves are always homogeneous. This has significant implications for metawaveguide designs. The resulting structures are more tolerant to optic axis misalignment.

Magneto-optic behaviour is a specific, non-reciprocal example of gyrotropic behaviour. When coupled to photo-induced Faraday rotation it is possible to discriminate this effect from the background of other nonlinear effects Non-reciprocal behaviour is characteristic of artificial gyrotropy and can be used in optical isolators and a range of coherence and quantum problems. This is all in sharp contrast to natural gyrotropy, like optical activity. it is also important to go beyond third-order, Kerr, optical nonlinearity and move towards a saturable model of terms in the polarisation. In this spirit, this chapter seeks to determinate the influence of a magneto-optic presence upon an optically nonlinear material that is modelled by a cubic-quintic form of polarisation. In addition, the coefficients of the envelope equation will be made complex, to take into account both linear and nonlinear damping and cubic gain processes. The emphasis is upon the simulation outcomes, however, rather the applications.

The nonlinear modes of complex open and closed waveguides containing left-handed, Veselago, materials are investigated. Critical parameters controlling the power flow are discovered. Complex guides containing vortices are investigated using a finite element method.

We study both linear and nonlinear surface waves localized at the interface separating a left-handed (LH) medium (i.e., a medium with both negative dielectric permittivity and negative magnetic permeability) and a conventional [or right-handed (RH)] dielectric medium. We demonstrate that the interface can support both TE- and TM-polarized surface waves-surface polaritons, and we study their properties. We describe the intensity-dependent properties of nonlinear surface waves in three different cases, i.e., when both the LH and RH media are nonlinear and when either of the media is nonlinear. In the case when both media are nonlinear, we find two types of nonlinear surface waves, one with the maximum amplitude at the interface, and the other one with two humps. In the case when one medium is nonlinear, only one type of surface wave exists, which has the maximum electric field at the interface, unlike waves in right-handed materials where the surface-wave maximum is usually shifted into a self-focusing nonlinear medium. We discuss the possibility of tuning the wave group velocity in both the linear and nonlinear cases, and show that group-velocity dispersion, which leads to pulse broadening, can be balanced by the nonlinearity of the media, so resulting in soliton propagation.