Two-dimensional plasmonic metamaterials

The fabrication of three-dimensional photonic metamaterials faces numerous technological challenges. Many new concepts and ideas in the optics of metamaterials may be more easily tested in two spatial dimensions using the planar optics of surface plasmon polaritons. In this paper we review recent progress in this direction. Two-dimensional photonic crystals exhibiting either positive or negative refraction, and strongly anisotropic metamaterials, etc, are demonstrated and used in novel microscopy and waveguiding schemes.