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Metamaterials

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Optical Properties of Metallic Nanoparticles

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Materials Science ((SSMATERIALS,volume 232))

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Abstract

The refractive index n corresponds to the factor by which the speed and wavelength of any radiation is reduced, when it propagates in an optical medium rather than in vacuum. Hence it describes a ratio and is therefore a dimensionless number. A value of n  = 1. 5, for example, states that a light wave travels 1.5 times faster in vacuum than it does in the corresponding medium (glass in this case). Since we also know the laws of relativity and its keystone, the absolute value and constancy of the speed of light, it is only reasonable that n has to be a positive number greater than unity for all optical materials in our universe.

I was invisible, and I was only just beginning to realise the extraordinary advantage my invisibility gave me. My head was already teeming with plans of all the wild and wonderful things I had now impunity to do. H. G. Wells, The Invisible Man

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Any negative-index material must be strongly dispersive, i.e. there must also exist frequency ranges with a positive refractive index, because otherwise the energy density integrated over all frequencies would be negative [14].

  2. 2.

    In [16] the authors discovered a fundamental limitation on the ultimate spatial resolution of the perfect lens as a result from spatial dispersion (nonlocality) of the dielectric response. The resolution of the lens will also generally be reduced if the slab material is lossy, see e.g. [17] for a summary to this topic.

  3. 3.

    Recently some strategies have been developed to overcome this narrow bandwidth constraint, mostly by sacrificing some degree of invisibility in return for a broader bandwidth [33].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graz, Austria

    Andreas Trügler

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  1. Andreas Trügler
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Trügler, A. (2016). Metamaterials. In: Optical Properties of Metallic Nanoparticles. Springer Series in Materials Science, vol 232. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25074-8_9

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