Optical Metamaterials:

Negative Refraction, Superlens and Plasmon Lasers

Xiang Zhang

University of California, Berkeley

Recent theory predicted a new class of photonic composite materials that its properties are derived by the structure rather than chemical compositions which promise unprecedented electromagnetic properties that do not exist in the nature such as optical magnetism and negative refraction. Especially, superlens made of metamaterials breaks the fundamental diffraction limit, which may have profound impact in wide range of applications such as nano-scale photonics, electronics manufacturing, and biomedical imaging. I’ll discuss recent progress that demonstrated the intriguing physics. We created the first bulk optical metamaterials that show the negative refractions. We demonstrated the superlens and optical cloak using carefully design of plasmonic materials dispersions. Scaling down photonics beyond diffraction limit is a key to drive the exponential growth of information technology. I will discuss new strategies for truly nano-scale photonics including indefinite cavity, plasmonic waveguide and lasers--a coherent light at molecular scale. Finally I will present a 22nm superlens lithography technology that may transform the next generation of nano-manufacturing.