A step towards opening the door to a new generation of optical devices - like super-lenses is being taken by a team of researchers in Germany. They have developed an exotic material with a negative refractive index capable of seeing details finer then the wavelength of visible light.
This technology may one day help make further breakthroughs in “invisibility cloaks” capable of hiding objects from the human eye! The scientists found the way to assemble an array of electronic components capable of resonating with the light waves’ electric and magnetic fields, as they pass through. These materials are named ‘metamaterial’ as works unlike any conventional substance.
Though, simulations show that negative-index lenses should produce exotic effects over a limited range of wavelengths, it is a real breakthrough for making a new generation of optical devices.
