Experimental study of the subwavelength imaging by a wire medium slab

An experimental investigation of subwavelength imaging by a wire medium slab is performed. A complex-shaped near field source is used in order to test imaging performance of the device. It is demonstrated that the ultimate bandwidth of operation of the constructed imaging device is 4.5% that coincides with theoretical predictions [P. A. Belov and M. G. Silveirinha, Phys. Rev. E 73, 056607 (2006)]. Within this band the wire medium slab is capable of transmitting images with lambda/15 resolution irrespective of the shape and complexity of the source. Actual bandwidth of operation for particular near-field sources can be larger than the ultimate value, but it strongly depends on the configuration of the source. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.