Emitting and negatively-refractive focusing apparatus, methods, and systems

• US 8,837,058 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2008
• Issued: 09/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: The Invention Science Fund I, L.L.C. (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Bowers, Jeffrey A., Hyde, Roderick A., Jung, Edward K. Y., Pendry, John Brian, Schurig, David, Smith, David R., Tegreene, Clarence T., Weaver, Thomas A., Whitmer, Charles, Wood, Lowell L. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Sugarman, Scott J
• Application Number:
  US12/286,387
• Publication Number:
  US 20100027130A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,178 Days
• Field of Search: 359/721, 359/724, 359/672, 359/676
• US Class Current: 359/724
• 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 5/00 Optical elements other than lenses light guides G02B6/00; optical logic elements G02F3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/0086 said selective devices having materials with a synthesized negative refractive index, e.g. metamaterials or left-handed materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/02 Refracting or diffracting devices, e.g. lens, prism

Abstract

Apparatus, methods, and systems provide emitting and negatively-refractive focusing of electromagnetic energy. In some approaches the negatively-refractive focusing includes negatively-refractive focusing from an interior field 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. A method, comprising:

spatially dilating an electromagnetic wave along a dilation direction;

negatively refracting the dilated electromagnetic wave at a surface region, the surface region defining a surface normal direction corresponding to the dilation direction; and

emitting the electromagnetic wave at one or more locations within a field region;

wherein

the surface region is a surface region of an electromagnetic medium;

the spatially dilating is spatially dilating by propagating the electromagnetic wave in the electromagnetic medium;

the electromagnetic medium includes a negative refractive index medium; and

the negatively refracting and the spatially dilating provide the field region for the electromagnetic wave.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the spatially dilating is spatially dilating with a scale factor greater than one.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the spatially dilating is spatially dilating with a uniform scale factor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the spatially dilating is spatially dilating with a non-uniform scale factor.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic wave is a polarized electromagnetic wave.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the polarized electromagnetic wave is a TE-polarized electromagnetic wave.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the polarized electromagnetic wave is a TM-polarized electromagnetic wave.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic wave is an unpolarized electromagnetic wave.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic wave is at a first frequency.

10. The method of claim 9, where the first frequency is an optical frequency.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the optical frequency corresponds to a visible wavelength.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the optical frequency corresponds to an infrared wavelength.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the first frequency is a radio frequency.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the radio frequency is a microwave frequency.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the first frequency is a millimeter-wave frequency.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the first frequency is a submillimeter-wave frequency.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the spatially dilating includes:

spatially dilating a first component of the electromagnetic wave at a first frequency along the dilation direction; and

spatially dilating a second component of the electromagnetic wave at a second frequency along the dilation direction.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein:

the spatially dilating of the first component is spatially dilating of the first component with a first scale factor greater than one; and

the spatially dilating of the second component is spatially dilating of the second component with a second scale factor greater than one.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the first scale factor is different than the second scale factor.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the field region defines an axial magnification along the dilation direction, the axial magnification inversely corresponding to a scale factor of the spatially dilating.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the emitting includes emitting with at least one antenna.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the emitting includes luminescent emitting.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein the emitting includes incandescent emitting.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more locations is a plurality of locations.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the plurality of locations is at least partially distributed along the dilation direction.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the emitting includes emitting with a plurality of antennas.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the plurality of antennas composes an antenna phased array.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the negatively refracting is substantially-nonreflectively negatively refracting.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the substantially-nonreflectively negatively refracting is substantially-nonreflectively negatively refracting by wave-impedance matching.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic medium is a transformation medium.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein transformation medium provides a coordinate transformation that includes an axial coordinate dilation, the axial coordinate dilation corresponding to the spatially dilating.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein transformation medium provides a coordinate transformation that includes an axial coordinate inversion, the axial coordinate inversion corresponding to the negatively refracting.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic medium is an artificially-structured material.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the artificially-structured material includes a metamaterial.