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Experimental Verification of a Negative Index of Refraction
R. A. Shelby,D. R. Smith,S. Schultz
We present experimental scattering data at microwave
frequencies on a structured metamaterial that exhibits a frequency bandwhere the effective index of refraction (n) is negative. The
materialconsists of a two-dimensional array of repeated unit cells ofcopper strips and split ring resonators on interlocking stripsof
standard circuit board material. By measuring the scatteringangle of
the transmitted beam through a prism fabricated fromthis material, we
determine the effective n, appropriate to Snell'slaw.
These experiments directly confirm the predictions of Maxwell'sequations that n is given by the negative square root of
·µ forthe frequencies where both the permittivity
() and the permeability(µ) are negative.
Configurations of geometrical optical designsare now possible that
could not be realized by positive indexmaterials.
Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La
Jolla, CA 92093-0350, USA.
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PERSPECTIVES
M. C. K. Wiltshire (6 April 2001) Science292 (5514), 60.
[DOI: 10.1126/science.1060221] |Summary »|Full Text »
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