Structure and properties of electromagnetic metamaterials

Metamaterials are artificial materials structured on a subwave-length scale to provide electromagnetic properties beyond those available in nature. Progress in this young field has been startlingly swift. The last year alone has seen the realization of the first optical negative-index metamaterials and the constructon of two very striking metamaterial-based devices: an invisibility cloak and a far-field lens capable of subwavelength imaging. Here, I review these developments and the key concepts that made them possible.