Localization of a stationary electromagnetic field by a planar boundary of a metamaterial

Methods and results of research on the focusing properties of planar boundaries of some metamaterials modeled by a negative electromagnetic medium (i.e., one with both a negative permittivity and a negative permeability) are presented. The properties of flat focusing lenses made of isotropic, anisotropic, or chiral negative media are described in terms of ray theory. The wave theory of an isotropic flat negative-material lens is developed, which shows that such a lens allows localizing a stationary electromagnetic field, in principle, onto an area of the effective linear size either larger or smaller (or even much smaller) than the radiation wavelength in a homogeneous medium at some distance from the source.