Design, fabrication and characterization of indefinite metamaterials of nanowires

Abstract

Indefinite optical properties, which are typically characterized by hyperbolic dispersion relations, have not been observed in naturally occurring materials, but can be realized through a metamaterial approach. We present here the design, fabrication and characterization of nanowire metamaterials with indefinite permittivity, in which allangle negative refraction of light is observed. The bottom-up fabrication technique, which applies electrochemical plating of nanowires in porous alumina template, is developed and demonstrated in achieving uniform hyperbolic optical properties at a large scale. We developed techniques to improve the uniformity and to reduce the defect density in the sample. The non-magnetic design and the off-resonance operation of the nanowire metamaterials significantly reduce the energy loss of electromagnetic waves and make the broad-band negative refraction of light possible. © 2011 The Royal Society.