Theory and application of left-handed metamaterials

Materials with simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability over a certain frequency band were first studied by Veselago in 1968, who termed such media left-handed (LH) due to the LH triad formed by the electric field vector, the magnetic field vector, and the phase propagation vector. However, since no such naturally occurring materials were known, Veselago's work laid dormant for nearly 30 years. Recently though, a composite material, also known as a metamaterial, consisting of the periodic arrangement of metallic rods and split-rings has been shown to exhibit left-handed properties. Because the dimension of the rods and rings that makeup the metamaterial are small compared to the wavelength of interest, it is possible to approximately describe their bulk electromagnetic properties using an effective permittivity and an effective permeability. In this thesis, the properties and potential applications of LH media are explored. In addition, various tools are presented for the purpose of characterizing metamaterial designs. Before studying their metamaterial realization, the basic properties of propagation, radiation, and scattering through homogeneous LH media are studied. Many of the basic properties of LH media are in contrast to those typically encountered in right-handed media. For example, using a rigorous plane wave analysis of propagation and transmission into a dispersive LH medium from a RH medium, it is shown that power refracts at a negative angle, without violating causality. Second, the perfect lens concept is studied through a Green's function analysis. It is shown that under the perfect lens requirement, that a single source outside a LH media slab will generate two perfect images.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Pacheco, Joe, 1978-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jin A. Kong.

• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16615

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/16615