Imaging with an Almost Perfect Lens

TL;DR

This paper analytically examines imaging with an almost perfect lens made of left-handed material, revealing how surface polaritons and singularities influence image quality and resolution.

Contribution

It provides an analytical solution for imaging with a nearly perfect lens, highlighting the role of surface polaritons and the logarithmic dependence of resolution on material parameters.

Findings

Resolution depends logarithmically on |sigma|.

Surface polaritons dominate electromagnetic behavior near the lens.

Image interference patterns are affected by slab width and material properties.

Abstract

The problem of imaging for a nearly-perfect lens, namely, a slab of a left-handed material with refractive index n = -(1-sigma)^1/2 is solved analytically for |sigma| << 1. The electromagnetic field behavior is determined largely by singularities arising from the excitation of surface polaritons with wavevector q -->oo. Depending on the sign of sigma, the near field is either odd or even with respect to the lens middle plane. Images exhibit an anomalous interference pattern with length scale determined by the width of the slab. Consistent with recent studies by Smith et al. [Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1506 (2003)] and G'omez-Santos [Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 077401 (2003)], the resolution depends logarithmically on |sigma|.