SYNTHESIS OF LOW-LOSS METAMATERIALS WITH NEGATIVE INDEX IN THE VISIBLE DOMAIN

Over the last decade, negative index media have attracted much attention due to their potential applications, especially the possibility of constructing superlenses. However, achieving high-performance negative-index metamaterials at visible frequencies, where this kind of media could find many applications, still remains a challenge. In this article, we provide a brief overview of the main routes for the implementation of metamaterials with negative index in this band, with a special focus on the so-called fishnet metamaterial. We pay particular attention to a specific fishnet configuration that recently allowed for the experimental demonstration of a low-loss and polarization-insensitive negative-index band in the visible regime.