A holey-structured metamaterial for acoustic deep-subwavelength imaging

For classical waves such as light or sound, diffraction sets a natural limit on how finely the details of an object can be recorded on its image. Recently, various optical superlenses based on the metamaterials concept have shown the possibility of overcoming the diffraction limit(1-7). Similar two-dimensional (2D) acoustic hyperlens designs have also been explored(8-10). Here we demonstrate a 3D holey-structured metamaterial that achieves acoustic imaging down to a feature size of lambda/50. The evanescent field components of a subwavelength object are efficiently transmitted through the structure as a result of their strong coupling with Fabry-Perot resonances inside the holey plate. This capability of acoustic imaging at a very deep-subwavelength scale may open the door for a broad range of applications, including medical ultrasonography, underwater sonar and ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation.