Numerical study of electromagnetic waves interacting with negative index materials

We study numerically the electromagnetic scattering properties of structures with negative indices of refraction. To perform this analysis, we utilize a commercial finite-element based electromagnetic solver (HFSS, Ansoft), in which a negative index material can be formed from mesh elements whose permittivity and permeability are both negative. In particular, we investigate the expected transmission characteristics of a finite beam incident on negative index prisms and lenses. We also confirm numerically the predicted superlens effect of an image formed by a planar slab with index n=-1, using two subwavelength (ë/20) slits as objects.