Bending light the wrong way

A new study from the

and

suggests a solution to one of the biggest challenges facing the optics and electromagnetics sector - how to produce near-perfect lenses cheaply.

Researchers have devised a strikingly simple method of producing materials which bend light the “wrong” way - a significant development as lenses with minimal distortion can be made from flat slabs of these negatively-refracting materials. In technological fields where lenses are key components, such as telecommunications, microwave engineering and optical engineering, negatively-refracting materials which can be cheaply produced are expected to have a revolutionary impact.

Although scientists have sought to minimize lens distortion for centuries, it is only within the past five years that the production of near-perfect lenses has become a realistic possibility. Progress has been made possible with the recent creation of negatively-refracting materials which enable rays of light, passing from one material to another, to bend in the opposite direction to that described in conventional physics textbooks.