Abstract
Metamaterials are nano-engineered media with designed properties beyond those available in nature with applications in all aspects of materials science. In particular, metamaterials have shown promise for next generation optical materials with electromagnetic responses that cannot be obtained from conventional media. We review the fundamental properties of metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion and present the various applications where such media offer potential for transformative impact. These artificial materials support unique bulk electromagnetic states which can tailor light-matter interaction at the nanoscale. We present a unified view of practical approaches to achieve hyperbolic dispersion using thin film and nanowire structures. We also review current research in the field of hyperbolic metamaterials such as sub-wavelength imaging and broadband photonic density of states engineering. The review introduces the concepts central to the theory of hyperbolic media as well as nanofabrication and characterization details essential to experimentalists. Finally, we outline the challenges in the area and offer a set of directions for future work.
Highlights
Metamaterials research has captured the imagination of optical engineers and materials scientists because of their varied applications including imaging [1,2,3], cloaking [4,5], sensing [6], waveguiding [7], and simulating space-time phenomena [8] (Figure 1)
This review aims to provide an overview of the properties of hyperbolic media from an experimental perspective focusing on design and characterization [36]
After initial sections on design and characterization, we review applications of subdiffraction imaging and density of states engineering with hyperbolic metamaterials
Summary
Metamaterials research has captured the imagination of optical engineers and materials scientists because of their varied applications including imaging [1,2,3], cloaking [4,5], sensing [6], waveguiding [7], and simulating space-time phenomena [8] (Figure 1). The invisibility cloak is the best example where an inhomogeneous anisotropic electromagnetic response causes light to bend smoothly around an object rendering it invisible [10] Another example is that of chiral metamaterials, where the response of a medium to polarized light can be enhanced by orders of magnitude through artificial structures [11,12]. While all the above media have specific domains of application, hyperbolic metamaterials are a multi-functional platform to realize waveguiding, imaging, sensing, quantum and thermal engineering beyond conventional devices [13,14,15,16,17,18]. This metamaterial uses the concept of engineering
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