|
Physics Today |
Volume 57 [6] Page
37 |
2004 |
Reversing Light
with Negative Refraction
JB Pendry and DR Smith
Abstract:
Victor
Veselago, in a paper1 published in 1967, pondered the consequences for
electromagnetic waves interacting with a hypothetical material for which both
the electric permittivity, 
, and the magnetic permeability, 
, were simultaneously negative. As no naturally occurring
material or compound has ever been demonstrated with negative 
and
, Veselago wondered whether this apparent asymmetry in
material properties was just happenstance, or perhaps had a more fundamental
origin. Veselago concluded that
not only should such materials be possible but, if ever found, would exhibit
remarkable properties unlike those of any known materials, giving a twist to
virtually all electromagnetic phenomena.
This paper is available as a PDF file.
last updated Tuesday 29 June 2004 by JBP