Anisotropic enhancement of group velocity in a homogenized dielectric composite medium

Under certain circumstances, the group velocity in a homogenized composite medium (HCM) can exceed the group velocity in its component material phases. We explore this phenomenon for a uniaxial dielectric HCM comprising isotropic component material phases distributed as oriented spheroidal particles. The theoretical approach is based upon the Bruggeman homogenization formalism. Enhancement in group velocity in the HCM with respect to the component material phases is shown to be sensitively dependent upon the shape of the component spheroids and their alignment relative to the direction of propagation.