Tuning the far-field superlens: From UV to visible

Abstract

A far-field optical superlens, which is able to form sub-diffraction- limited images in the far field at UV wavelength, was recently demonstrated. In current work we present two methods to tune the working wavelength from UV to visible by tuning either the permittivity of the surrounding medium or that of the metal. A practical design is provided for each method. The tunable far-field superlens enables possible applications of the far-field superlens in sub-diffraction-limited imaging and sensing over a wide range of wavelength. © 2007 Optical Society of America.