Explorations in Nanophotonics-6

1. The left is sometimes right! : Assume that the imaginary parts of the
dielectricpermittivity aswellasthemagneticpermeability ofamaterial
areapproximatelyzerosothatthequantitiesandarebothreal;further
assume that we are considering a uniform medium for which both these
quantities are negative. Using
Maxwell's equations, show that
for a plane wave, the set of

vectors ( E , H , k ) forms a left
handedsetofvectors.Sketchthe
three vectors in addition to the

Poynting vector S . Mark the

directionsofallvectorsinvolved.
Nowrepeatthisforthecaseofa
normalmediumforwhichboth
andarepositiveandreal.

2. Theright tobe left alone?Considera medium forwhich either of and

(i.e. only one of the two) is negative, but both are real. Justify why
propagationwillnotoccurinthismedium.

3. Positively negative! Sketch the ray diagram for

refraction as a light beam in the form of
polychromatic plane waves propagates from a
positive index medium to a negative index medium.
Drawwavefrontsinbothmedia.Makecommentson
thetimetakenbytheraysateitherendsofthebeam
inordertopreservethewavefrontsstraight.Hence
justify the concept of negative refractive index.
Sketch the directions of the propagation vector and
thePoyntingvector,groupvelocity.
4. a)ApplyFermatsprincipletolighttravelingthroughaconverginglensmade
of negative refractive index materials and show that the optical path
betweentheobjectkeptoutsidethemediumanditsimageformedonthe
othersideofthemediumcanbezeroconceptuallyifthereisnoloss.

b) A point object is keptinair, ata distance d1 froma rectangularslabof

widthd2,madeofanegativelyrefractingmaterial,withthemagnitudeof
therefractiveindexn(assumedtobereal,withnoimaginarypart)and.If
thesecondimageisformedadistanced3outsidetheslab,arriveatthe
designconsiderationsforthissystemtohavezeroopticalpathbetween
theobjectandtheimage.

5. a) Which are the parameters that determine the

resolution of a 2D picture? Comment on the
components of the wavevectors andthe possible
resolution,intermsoftheFouriercomponentsand
spatialfrequencies.

b) Why is a super lens described as a super lens?

Howdoesitachievethefeaturesthatjustifiesthis
name?

Opticsisnotlightwork;itismakinglightwork!