Abstract
Artificially engineered metamaterials are now demonstrating unprecedented electromagnetic properties that cannot be obtained with naturally occurring materials. In particular, they provide a route to creating materials that possess a negative refractive index and offer exciting new prospects for manipulating light. This review describes the recent progress made in creating nanostructured metamaterials with a negative index at optical wavelengths, and discusses some of the devices that could result from these new materials.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Schuster, A. An Introduction to the Theory of Optics (Arnold, London, 1904).
Lamb, H. On group-velocity. Proc. Lond. Math. Soc. 1, 473–479 (1904).
Mandel'shtam, L. I. Group velocity in a crystal lattice. Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 15, 475–478 (1945).
Sivukhin, D. V. The energy of electromagnetic waves in dispersive media. Opt. Spektrosk 3, 308–312 (1957).
Veselago, V. G. The electrodynamics of substances with simultaneously negative values of ε and μ. Sov. Phys. Uspekhi 10, 509–514 (1968).
Pendry, J. B. Negative refraction makes a perfect lens. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3966–3969 (2000).
Kosaka, H. et al. Superprism phenomena in photonic crystals. Phys. Rev. B 58, 10096–10099 (1998).
Notomi, M. Theory of light propagation in strongly modulated photonic crystals: Refraction like behavior in the vicinity of the photonic band gap. Phys. Rev. B 62, R10696–R10705 (2000).
Gralak, B., Enoch, S. & Tayeb, G. Anomalous refractive properties of photonic crystals. J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 17, 1012–1020 (2000).
Luo, C. et al. All-angle negative refraction without negative effective index. Phys. Rev. B 65, 201104 (2002).
Berrier, A. et al. Negative refraction at infrared wavelengths in a two-dimensional photonic crystal. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 073902 (2004).
Smith, D. R. et al. Limitations on sub-diffraction imaging with a negative refractive index slab. Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 1506–1508 (2003).
Luo, C. et al. Sub-wavelength imaging in photonic crystals. Phys. Rev. B 68, 045115 (2003).
Lu, Z. et al. Three-dimensional sub-wavelength imaging by a photonic-crystal flat lens using negative refraction at microwave frequencies. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 153901 (2005).
Eleftheriades, G. V., Iyer, A. K. & Kremer, P. C. Planar negative refractive index media using periodically L-C loaded transmission lines. IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech. 50, 2702–2712 (2002).
Alù, A. & Engheta, N. Optical nanotransmission lines: Synthesis of planar left-handed metamaterials in the infrared and visible regimes. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 571–583 (2006).
Depine, R. A. & Lakhtakia, A. A new condition to identify isotropic dielectric-magnetic materials displaying negative phase velocity. Microwave Opt. Technol. Lett. 41, 315–316 (2004).
McCall, M. W., Lakhtakia, A. & Weiglhofer, W. S. The negative index of refraction demystified. Eur. J. Phys. 23, 353–359 (2002).
Agranovich, V. M. et al. Linear and nonlinear wave propagation in negative refraction metamaterials. Phys. Rev. B 69, 165112 (2004).
Podolskiy, V. A. & Narimanov, E. E. Strongly anisotropic waveguide as a nonmagnetic left-handed system. Phys. Rev. B 71, 201101 (2005).
Shin, H. & Fan, S. All-angle negative refraction for surface plasmon waves using a metal-dielectric-metal structure. Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 073907 (2006).
Pendry, J. B. et al. Magnetism from conductors and enhanced nonlinear phenomena. IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech. 47, 2075–2084 (1999).
Smith, D. R. et al. Composite medium with simultaneously negative permeability and permittivity. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4184–4187 (2000).
Shelby, R. A., Smith, D. R. & Schultz, S. Experimental verification of a negative index of refraction. Science 292, 77–79 (2001).
Yen, T. J. et al. Terahertz magnetic response from artificial materials. Science 303, 1494–1496 (2004).
Zhang, S. et al. Midinfrared resonant magnetic nanostructures exhibiting a negative permeability. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 037402 (2005).
Linden, S. et al. Magnetic response of metamaterials at 100 terahertz. Science 306, 1351–1353 (2004).
Enkrich, C. et al. Magnetic metamaterials at telecommunication and visible frequencies. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 203901 (2005).
Kildishev, A. V. et al. Negative refractive index in optics of metal–dielectric composites. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 423–433 (2006).
Shvets, G. Urzhumov, Y. A. Negative index meta-materials based on two-dimensional metallic structures. J. Opt. A 8, S122–S130 (2006).
Yuan, H.-K. et al. A negative permeability material at red light. Preprint at <http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0610118> (2006).
International Commission on Illumination (1987): International Lighting Vocabulary 4th edn (CIE, Vienna, 1987).
Podolskiy, V. A., Sarychev, A. K. & Shalaev, V. M. Plasmon modes in metal nanowires and left-handed materials. J. Nonlin. Opt. Phys. Mater. 11, 65–74 (2002).
Grigorenko, A. N. et al. Nanofabricated media with negative permeability at visible frequencies. Nature 438, 335–338 (2005).
Grigorenko, A. Negative refractive index in artificial metamaterials. Opt. Lett. 31, 2483–2485 (2006).
Kildishev, A. V. et al. Comment on 'Negative refractive index in artificial metamaterials'. Preprint at <http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0609234> (2006).
Shalaev, V. M. et al. Negative index of refraction in optical metamaterials. Opt. Lett. 30, 3356–3358 (2005).
Zhang, S. et al. Experimental demonstration of near-infrared negative-index metamaterials. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 137404 (2005).
Lagarkov, A. N. & Sarychev, A. K. Electromagnetic properties of composites containing elongated conducting inclusions. Phys. Rev. B 53, 6318–6336 (1996).
Panina, L. V., Grigorenko, A. N. & Makhnovskiy, D. P. Optomagnetic composite medium with conducting nanoelements. Phys. Rev. B 66, 155411 (2002).
Podolskiy, V. A., Sarychev, A. K. & Shalaev, V. M. Plasmon modes and negative refraction in metal nanowire composites. Opt. Express 11, 735–745 (2003).
Engheta, N., Salandrino, A. & Alu, A. Circuit elements at optical frequencies: Nanoinductors, nanocapacitors, and nanoresistors. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 095504 (2005).
Zhang, S. et al. Demonstration of metal-dielectric negative-index metamaterials with improved performance at optical frequencies. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 434–438 (2006).
Dolling, G. et al. Low-loss negative-index metamaterial at telecommunication wavelengths. Opt. Lett. 31, 1800–1802 (2006).
Zhang, S. et al. Near-infrared double negative metamaterials. Opt. Express 13, 4922–4930 (2005).
Dolling, G. et al. Simultaneous negative phase and group velocity of light in a metamaterial. Science 312, 892–894 (2006).
Dolling G., Wegener, M., Soukoulis, C. M. & Linden, S. Negative-index material at 780 nm wavelength. Preprint at <http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0607135> (2006).
Zhou, J. et al. Negative index materials using simple short wire pairs. Phys. Rev. B 73, 041101(R) (2006).
Chettiar, U. K. et al. Negative index metamaterial combining magnetic resonators with metal films. Opt. Express 14, 7872–7877 (2006).
Zhang, S. et al. Optical negative-index bulk metamaterials consisting of 2D perforated metal-dielectric stacks. Opt. Express 14, 6778–6787 (2006).
Padilla, W. J. et al. Dynamical electric and magnetic metamaterial response at THz frequencies, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 107401 (2006).
Khoo, I. C. Liquid Crystals: Physical Properties and Nonlinear Optical Phenomena (Wiley, New York, 1995).
Khoo, I. C. et al. Supra-nonlinear photorefractive response of single-wall carbon nanotube- and C60-doped nematic liquid crystal. Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 3587–3589 (2003).
Podolskiy, V. A. & Narimanov, E. E. Near-sighted superlens, Opt. Lett. 30, 75–77 (2005).
Sirtori, C. et al. Long-wavelength (λ = 8–11.5 μm) semiconductor lasers with waveguides based on surface plasmons. Opt. Lett. 23, 1366–1368 (1998).
Tredicucci, A. et al. Single-mode surface-plasmon laser. Appl. Phys. Lett. 76, 2164–2166 (2000).
Sudarkin, A. N. & Demkovich, P. A. Excitation of surface electromagnetic waves on the boundary of a metal with an amplifying medium. Sov. Phys. Tech. Phys. 34, 764–766 (1989).
Nezhad, M. P., Tetz, K. & Fainman, Y. Gain assisted propagation of surface plasmon polaritons on planar metallic waveguides. Opt. Express 12, 4072–4079 (2004).
Avrutsky, I. Surface plasmons at nanoscale relief gratings between a metal and a dielectric medium with optical gain. Phys. Rev. B 70, 155416 (2004).
Seidel, J., Grafströ m, S. & Eng, L. Stimulated emission of surface plasmons at the interface between a silver film and an optically pumped dye solution. Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 177401 (2005).
Bergman, D. J. & Stockman, M. I. Surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation: Quantum generation of coherent surface plasmons in nanosystems. Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 027402 (2003).
Lawandy, N. M. Localized surface plasmon singularities in amplifying media. Appl. Phys. Lett. 85, 5040–5042 (2004).
Noginov, M. A. et al. Enhancement of surface plasmons in an Ag aggregate by optical gain in a dielectric medium. Opt. Lett. 31, 3022–3024 (2006).
Ramakrishna, S. A. & Pendry, J. B. Removal of absorption and increase in resolution in a near-field lens via optical gain. Phys. Rev. B 67, 201101 (2003).
Shamonina E. et al. Imaging, compression and Poynting vector streamlines for negative permittivity materials. Elec. Lett. 37, 1243–1244 (2001).
Espinola, R. L. et al. Raman amplification in ultrasmall silicon-on-insulator wire waveguides. Opt. Express 12, 3713–3718 (2004).
Dulkeith, E. et al. Fluorescence quenching of dye molecules near gold nanoparticles: Radiative and nonradiative effects. Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 203002 (2002).
Imahori, H. et al. Structure and photophysical properties of porphyrin-modified metal nanoclusters with different chain lengths. Langmuir 20, 73–81 (2004).
Stehr, J. et al. A low threshold polymer laser based on metallic nanoparticle gratings. Adv. Mater. 15, 1726 (2003).
Klar, T. A. et al. Negative-index metamaterials: Going optical. IEEE J. Selec. Top. Quant. Electron. 12, (2006).
Larkin, I. A. & Stockman, M. I. Imperfect perfect lens. Nano Lett. 5, 339–343 (2005).
Gabitov, I. R. et al. Double-resonant optical materials with embedded metal nanostructures. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 535–542 (2006).
Popov, A. K. & Shalaev, V. M. Negative-index metamaterials: Second-harmonic generation, Manley-Rowe relations and parametric amplification. Appl. Phys. B 84, 131–137 (2006).
Shadrivov, I. V., Zharov, A. A. & Kivshar, Y. S. Second-harmonic generation in nonlinear left-handed metamaterials. J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23, 529–534 (2006).
Zharov, A. A. et al. Subwavelength imaging with opaque nonlinear left-handed lenses. Appl. Phys. Lett. 87, 091104 (2005).
Klein, M. W. et al. Second-harmonic generation from magnetic metamaterials. Science 313, 502–504 (2006).
Litchinitser, N. M. et al. Effect of negative-index thin film on optical bistability. Opt. Lett. (in the press); preprint at <http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0607177>.
Popov, A. K. & Shalaev V. M. Compensating losses in negative-index metamaterials with optical parametric amplification. Opt. Lett. 31, 2169–2171 (2006).
Fang, N., Lee, H. & Zhang, X. Sub-diffraction-limited optical imaging with a silver superlens. Science 308, 534–537 (2005).
Melville, D. O. S. & Blaikie, R. J. & Wolf, C. R. Submicron imaging with a planar silver lens. Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 4403–4405 (2004).
Melville, D. O. S., Blaikie, R. J. Super-resolution imaging through a planar silver layer. Opt. Express 13, 2127–2134 (2005).
Taubner T. et al. Near-field microscopy through a SiC superlens. Science 313, 1595 (2006).
Cai, W., Genov, D. A. & Shalaev, V. M. Superlens based on metal-dielectric composites. Phys. Rev. B 72, 193101 (2005).
Durant, S., Liu, Z., Fang, N. & Zhang, X. Theory of optical imaging beyond the diffraction limit with a far-field superlens. Proc. SPIE 6323, 63231H (2006).
Jacob, Z., Alekseyev, L. V. & Narimanov, E. Optical hyperlens: Far-field imaging beyond the diffraction limit. Opt. Express 14, 8247–8256 (2006).
Salandrino, A. & Engheta, N. Far-field subdiffraction optical microscopy using metamaterial crystals: Theory and simulations. Phys. Rev. B 74, 075103 (2006).
Nicorovici, N. A., McPhedran, R. C. & Milton, G. W. Optical and dielectric properties of partially resonant composites. Phys. Rev. B 49, 8479–8482 (1994).
Milton, G. W. et al. A proof of superlensing in the quasistatic regime, and limitations of superlenses in this regime due to anomalous localized resonance. Proc. Roy. Soc. A 461, 3999–4034 (2005).
Alù, A. & Engheta, N. Achieving transparency with plasmonic and metamaterial coatings. Phys. Rev. E 95, 016623 (2005).
Garcia de Abajo, F. J. et al. Tunneling mechanism of light transmission through metal films. Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 067403 (2005).
Pendry, J. B., Shurig, D. & Smith D. R. Controlling electromagnetic fields. Science 312, 1780–1782 (2006).
Leonhardt, U. Optical conforming mapping. Science 312, 1777–1780 (2006).
Schurig, D. et al. Metamaterial electromagnetic cloak at microwave frequencies. Science 314, 977–980 (2006).
Cai, W., Chettiar, U. K., Kildishev, A. V. & Shalaev, V. M. Optical cloaking with non-magnetic metamaterials. Preprint at <http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0611242> (2006).
Liu, Z. et al. Rapid growth of evanescent wave with a silver superlens. Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 5184–5186 (2003).
Acknowledgements
The author highly appreciates contributions from and useful discussions with A. V. Kildishev, V. P. Drachev, U. K. Chettiar, W. Cai, H.-K. Yuan, T. A. Klar, M. D. Thoreson, I. C. Khoo, A. K. Popov, A. E. Boltasseva, N. M. Litchinitser, M. A. Noginov, A. K. Sarychev, X. Zhang and I. R. Gabitov. This work was supported by ARO MURI Award 50432-PH-MUR and PREM DMR-0611430.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shalaev, V. Optical negative-index metamaterials. Nature Photon 1, 41–48 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2006.49
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2006.49
This article is cited by
-
Self-rectifying magnetoelectric metamaterials for remote neural stimulation and motor function restoration
Nature Materials (2024)
-
Guiding Trojan light beams via Lagrange points
Nature Physics (2024)
-
Flexible and biocompatible polyurethane/Co@C composite films with weakly negative permittivity
Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials (2024)
-
Metamaterial properties of Babinet complementary complex structures
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
Ultrabroadband Nanostructured Metamaterial Absorber for Visible and Short-Infrared Spectrum
Plasmonics (2023)