Subwavelength resolution with a negative-index metamaterial superlens

Abstract

Negative-index metamaterials are candidates for imaging objects with sizes smaller than a half-wavelength. The authors report an impedance-matched, low loss negative-index metamaterial superlens that is capable of resolving subwavelength features of a point source with a 0.13λ. resolution, which is the highest resolution achieved by a negative-index metamaterial. By separating two point sources with a distance of λ/8, they were able to detect two distinct peaks on the image plane. They also showed that the metamaterial based structure has a flat lens behavior. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.