Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect Lens

TLDR: The authors' simulations show that a version of the lens operating at the frequency of visible light can be realized in the form of a thin slab of silver, which resolves objects only a few nanometers across.

Abstract: Optical lenses have for centuries been one of scientists’ prime tools. Their operation is well understood on the basis of classical optics: curved surfaces focus light by virtue of the refractive index contrast. Equally their limitations are dictated by wave optics: no lens can focus light onto an area smaller than a square wavelength. What is there new to say other than to polish the lens more perfectly and to invent slightly better dielectrics? In this Letter I want to challenge the traditional limitation on lens performance and propose a class of “superlenses,” and to suggest a practical scheme for implementing such a lens. Let us look more closely at the reasons for limitation in performance. Consider an infinitesimal dipole of frequency v in front of a lens. The electric component of the field will be given by some 2D Fourier expansion,