Strong effect of surfaces on resolution limit of negative-index "superlens"

Abstract

We show that subwavelength imaging by negative index materials (NIM), related to their "soft" electromagnetic response, is very (and non trivially) sensitive to the surface properties. A minute deviation of dielectric permittivity epsilon or magnetic permeability mu from the ideal values epsilon = mu = -1 in thin surface layer(s) results in drastic reduction of the resolution limit of a NIM slab. There may be a gap in the polariton spectrum and this would allow establishment of a stationary regime even without losses.