Measurements of the negative refractive index of sub-diffraction waves propagating in an indefinite permittivity medium

Opt Express. 2010 Oct 25;18(22):22734-46. doi: 10.1364/OE.18.022734.

Abstract

An indefinite permittivity medium (IPM) has been fabricated and optically characterized in mid-infrared spectral range (10.7 µm-11.3 µm). Phase and amplitude transmission measurements reveal two remarkable properties of IPMs: (i) transmission of sub-diffraction waves (as short as λ/4) can exceed those of diffraction-limited ones, and (ii) sub-diffraction waves can propagate with negative refractive index. We describe a novel double-detector optical technique relying on the interference between sub-diffraction and diffraction-limited waves for accurate measurement of the transmission amplitude and phase of the former.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.