Superlens made of a metamaterial with extreme effective parameters

TL;DR

This paper introduces a superlens made from a metamaterial of crossed metallic wires, capable of restoring subwavelength details by compensating for free-space attenuation, supported by theoretical and numerical evidence.

Contribution

It presents a novel superlens design using a structured metamaterial with extreme effective parameters, demonstrating non-resonant broadband subwavelength imaging.

Findings

Supports strongly confined guided modes with short wavelengths

Achieves subwavelength resolution by compensating free-space attenuation

Operates over a broad bandwidth due to non-resonant response

Abstract

We propose a superlens formed by an ultra-dense array of crossed metallic wires. It is demonstrated that due to the anomalous interaction between crossed wires, the structured substrate is characterized by an anomalously high index of refraction and supports strongly confined guided modes with very short propagation wavelengths. It is theoretically proven that a planar slab of such structured material makes a superlens that may compensate for the attenuation introduced by free-space propagation and restore the subwavelength details of the source. The bandwidth of the proposed device can be quite significant since the response of the structured substrate is non-resonant. The theoretical results are fully supported by numerical simulations.