Negatively-refractive focusing and sensing apparatus, methods, and systems

• US 20090296077A1
• Filed: 10/20/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Searete LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Weaver, Thomas A., Smith, David R., Pendry, John Brian, Tegreene, Clarence T., Jung, Edward K.Y., Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. JR., Hyde, Roderick A., Schurig, David, Bowers, Jeffrey A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,164,837 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 356/128
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 1/007 made of negative effective refractive index materials
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0012 Optical design, e.g. procedures, algorithms, optimisation routines

Abstract

Apparatus, methods, and systems provide negatively-refractive focusing and sensing of electromagnetic energy. In some approaches the negatively-refractive focusing includes providing an interior focusing region with an axial magnification substantially less than one. In some approaches the negatively-refractive focusing includes negatively-refractive focusing with a transformation medium, where the transformation medium may include an artificially-structured material such as a metamaterial.

Claims

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164. A method, comprising:

determining electromagnetic parameters that define a negative refractive index in a spatial region, the electromagnetic parameters providing an axial magnification substantially less than one for an interior focusing region within the spatial region.

166. The method of claim 164, wherein the negative refractive index is less than minus one within at least a portion of the spatial region.

167. The method of claim 164, wherein the negative refractive index is less than minus one within at least a portion of the interior focusing region.

185. The method of claim 164, further comprising:

selecting one or more positions of one or more electromagnetic sensors within the spatial region.

186. The method of claim 185, wherein the one or more positions are inside the interior focusing region.

191. The method of claim 164, wherein the electromagnetic parameters provide the interior focusing region for electromagnetic waves that radiate from an exterior field region.

192. The method of claim 191, wherein the axial magnification corresponds to a ratio of an axial extent of the interior focusing region to an axial extent of the exterior field region.

193. The method of claim 191, wherein the electromagnetic parameters define a transformation medium.

194. The method of claim 193, wherein the transformation medium corresponds to a multiple-valued coordinate transformation.

195. The method of claim 194, wherein a first branch of the multiple-valued coordinate transformation maps an untransformed region to the exterior field region, and a second branch of the multiple-valued coordinate transformation maps the untransformed region to the interior focusing region.

196. The method of claim 195, wherein the first branch of the multiple-valued coordinate transformation is an identity transformation.

197. The method of claim 195, wherein the second branch of the multiple-valued coordinate transformation includes an axial coordinate inversion.

198. The method of claim 197, wherein the second branch of the multiple-valued coordinate transformation includes an axial coordinate contraction.

199. The method of claim 198, wherein the axial magnification corresponds to a scale factor of the axial coordinate contraction.

201. The method of claim 164, wherein the electromagnetic parameters include:

axial electromagnetic parameters; and

transverse electromagnetic parameters that inversely correspond to the axial electromagnetic parameters.

202. The method of claim 201, wherein the interior focusing region defines an axial direction, and the axial electromagnetic parameters correspond to the axial direction.

207. The method of claim 202, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters correspond to a transverse direction, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to the axial direction.

210. The method of claim 201, wherein the axial electromagnetic parameters include an axial permittivity.

211. The method of claim 210, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters include a transverse permittivity that is substantially a multiplicative inverse of the axial permittivity.

213. The method of claim 211, wherein the axial permittivity is less than zero and greater than minus one.

214. The method of claim 210, wherein the axial electromagnetic parameters include an axial permeability.

215. The method of claim 214, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters include a transverse permeability that is substantially a multiplicative inverse of the axial permeability.

217. The method of claim 215, wherein the axial permeability is less than zero and greater than minus one.

218. The method of claim 214, wherein the axial permittivity is substantially equal to the axial permeability.

219. The method of claim 218, wherein the transverse electromagnetic parameters include a transverse permeability that is substantially a multiplicative inverse of the axial permeability.

221. The method of claim 219, wherein the axial permeability is less than zero and greater than minus one.

222. The method of claim 164, wherein the spatial region includes an input surface region that is substantially nonreflective of electromagnetic energy incident upon the input surface region.

223. The method of claim 222, wherein the input surface region is substantially nonreflective of electromagnetic energy incident upon the input surface region from an adjacent region, the adjacent region being exterior to the spatial region.

225. The method of claim 223, wherein a wave impedance of the adjacent region is substantially equal to a wave impedance of the input surface region.

226. The method of claim 225, wherein the adjacent region defines a first permittivity and a first permeability, the input surface region defines a second permittivity and a second permeability, and a ratio of the second permittivity to the first permittivity is substantially equal to a ratio of the second permeability to the first permeability.

231. The method of claim 226, wherein the second permittivity is less than zero.

232. The method of claim 226, wherein the second permeability is less than zero.

233. The method of claim 232, wherein the second permittivity is less than zero.

234. The method of claim 226, wherein the input surface region defines a surface normal direction and a surface parallel direction, the second permittivity includes a surface normal permittivity corresponding to the surface normal direction and a surface parallel permittivity corresponding to the surface parallel direction, and a ratio of the surface normal permittivity to the first permittivity is substantially a multiplicative inverse of a ratio of the surface parallel permittivity to the first permittivity.

236. The method of claim 234, wherein the ratio of the surface normal permittivity to the first permittivity is less than zero and greater than minus one.

237. The method of claim 234, wherein the second permeability includes a surface normal permeability corresponding to the surface normal direction and a surface parallel permeability corresponding to the surface parallel direction, and a ratio of the surface normal permeability to the first permeability is substantially a multiplicative inverse of a ratio of the surface parallel permeability to the first permeability.

239. The electromagnetic apparatus of claim 237, wherein the ratio of the surface normal permittivity to the first permittivity is less than zero and greater than minus one.

240. The method of claim 164, further comprising:

configuring an artificially-structured material having an effective electromagnetic response that corresponds to the electromagnetic parameters in the spatial region.

241. The method of claim 240, wherein the artificially-structured material includes a photonic crystal.

242. The method of claim 240, wherein the artificially-structured material includes a metamaterial.

243. The method of claim 240, wherein the configuring includes:

determining an arrangement of a plurality of electromagnetically responsive elements having a plurality of individual responses, the plurality of individual responses composing the effective electromagnetic response.

244. The method of claim 243, wherein the plurality of individual responses includes a plurality of individual frequency responses.

245. The method of claim 244, wherein the plurality of individual frequency responses is a plurality of individual frequency bandwidth responses corresponding to a plurality of individual bandwidths.

246. The method of claim 245, wherein the plurality of electromagnetically responsive elements is a plurality of electromagnetically responsive resonators corresponding to a plurality of resonant frequencies, and each of the individual bandwidths is substantially centered around a corresponding one of the resonant frequencies.

248. The method of claim 245, wherein the individual bandwidths are at least partially overlapping.

251. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include discrete circuit elements.

257. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include integrated circuit elements.

259. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include metallic structures.

260. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include LC resonators.

261. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include plasmonic resonators.

262. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include nanostructures.

266. The method of claim 243, wherein the electromagnetically responsive elements include split-ring resonators.

268. The method of claim 240, wherein the configuring includes:

configuring at least one electromagnetically-responsive structure to arrange a plurality of distributed electromagnetic responses, the plurality of distributed electromagnetic responses composing the effective electromagnetic response.

271. The method of claim 268, wherein the distributed electromagnetic responses include distributed inductive-capacitive responses.

272. The method of claim 268, wherein the at least one electromagnetically-responsive structure includes transmission lines.

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