Low-loss negative-index metamaterial at telecommunication wavelengths.

We fabricate and characterize a low-loss silver-based negative-index metamaterial based on the design of a recent theoretical proposal. Comparing the measured transmittance and reflectance spectra with theory reveals good agreement. We retrieve a real part of the refractive index of Re(n)= -2 around 1.

Simultaneous negative phase and group velocity of light in a metamaterial.

We investigated the propagation of femtosecond laser pulses through a metamaterial that has a negative index of refraction for wavelengths around 1.5 micrometers. From the interference fringes of a Michelson interferometer with and without the sample, we directly inferred the phase time delay.

Photorealistic images of objects in effective negative-index materials.

Using a ray-tracing approach, we calculate photorealistic images and simple movies of objects in a material with negative index of refraction. Our results show several surprising and drastic effects, for example reversal of apparent object velocity, extreme distortions of object shape, and even apparent loss of connectivity of simple objects. The material presented aims at giving both researchers and laymen an intuition and visual understanding for the unusual optical properties of negative-index materials.