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

• US 20100033832A1
• Filed: 10/20/2008
• Published: 02/11/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2008
• 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 8,730,591 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 359/642
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 3/00 Simple or compound lenses
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/292 by controlled diffraction or phased-array beam steering controlled diffraction for optical switching G02F1/31
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2202/30 Metamaterials
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2203/28 focussing or defocussing

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

1-126. -126. (canceled)

127. A method, comprising:

negatively refracting an electromagnetic wave at a surface region, the surface region defining a surface normal direction; and

spatially contracting the refracted electromagnetic wave along a contraction direction, the contraction direction corresponding to the surface normal direction.

128. The method of claim 127, wherein the spatially contracting is spatially contracting with a scale factor less than one.

129. The method of claim 127, wherein the spatially contracting is spatially contracting with a uniform scale factor.

130. The method of claim 127, wherein the spatially contracting is spatially contracting with a non-uniform scale factor.

131. The method of claim 127, wherein the electromagnetic wave is a polarized electromagnetic wave.

132. The method of claim 131, wherein the polarized electromagnetic wave is a TE-polarized electromagnetic wave.

133. The method of claim 131, wherein the polarized electromagnetic wave is a TM-polarized electromagnetic wave.

134. The method of claim 127, wherein the electromagnetic wave is an unpolarized electromagnetic wave.

135. The method of claim 127, wherein the electromagnetic wave is at a first frequency.

136. The method of claim 135, where the first frequency is an optical frequency.

137. The method of claim 136, wherein the optical frequency corresponds to a visible wavelength.

138. The method of claim 136, wherein the optical frequency corresponds to an infrared wavelength.

139. The method of claim 135, wherein the first frequency is a radio frequency.

140. The method of claim 139, wherein the radio frequency is a microwave frequency.

141. The method of claim 135, wherein the first frequency is a millimeter-wave frequency.

142. The method of claim 135, wherein the first frequency is a submillimeter-wave frequency.

143. The method of claim 127, wherein the spatially contracting includes:

spatially contracting a first component of the refracted electromagnetic wave at a first frequency along the contraction direction; and

spatially contracting a second component of the refracted electromagnetic wave at a second frequency along the contraction direction.

144. The method of claim 143, wherein:

the spatially contracting of the first component is spatially contracting of the first component with a first scale factor less than one; and

the spatially contracting of the second component is spatially contracting of the second component with a second scale factor less than one.

145. The method of claim 144, wherein the first scale factor is different than the second scale factor.

146. The method of claim 127, wherein the negatively refracting and the spatially contracting provide a focusing region for the refracted electromagnetic wave.

147. The method of claim 146, wherein the focusing region defines an axial magnification along the contraction direction, the axial magnification corresponding to a scale factor of the spatially contracting.

148. The method of claim 146, further comprising:

sensing the electromagnetic wave at one or more locations within the focusing region.

149. The method of claim 148, wherein the sensing includes sensing with at least one antenna.

150. The method of claim 148, wherein the sensing includes sensing with at least one photodetector.

151. The method of claim 148, wherein the one or more locations is a plurality of locations.

152. The method of claim 151, wherein the plurality of locations is at least partially distributed along the contraction direction.

153. The method of claim 151, wherein the sensing includes sensing with a plurality of antennas.

154. The method of claim 153, wherein the plurality of antennas composes an antenna phased array.

155. The method of claim 127, wherein the negatively refracting is substantially-nonreflectively negatively refracting.

156. The method of claim 155, wherein the substantially-nonreflectively negatively refracting is substantially-nonreflectively negatively refracting by wave-impedance matching.

157. The method of claim 127, wherein the surface region is a surface region of an electromagnetic medium, and the spatially contracting is spatially contracting by propagating the refracted electromagnetic wave in the electromagnetic medium.

158. The method of claim 157, wherein the electromagnetic medium includes a negative refractive index medium.

159. The method of claim 157, wherein the electromagnetic medium is a transformation medium.

160. The method of claim 159, wherein transformation medium provides a coordinate transformation that includes an axial coordinate contraction, the axial coordinate contraction corresponding to the spatially contracting.

161. The method of claim 159, wherein transformation medium provides a coordinate transformation that includes an axial coordinate inversion, the axial coordinate inversion corresponding to the negatively refracting.

162. The method of claim 157, wherein the electromagnetic medium is an artificially-structured material.

163. The method of claim 162, wherein the artificially-structured material includes a metamaterial.

164-275. -275. (canceled)