Some New Strategies for Practical Realization of Metamaterial-Based Devices

In this paper, we discuss some new strategies for designing devices such as lenses, cloaks, nearfield imaging systems, etc., that are based on the use of dispersion-engineered materials aka Metamaterials (MTMs). Historically, the design of these devices has largely been based on the use of double-negative (DNG) type of materials that have been typically found to be highly dispersive, narrowband, angular-sensitive and polarization-dependent. Techniques for mitigating these problems with DNG materials are being actively researched, though successes have been rather limited to-date. In this paper, we look at some alternate strategies from a practioner’s viewpoint that lead to the realization of MTM-devices which suffer little from the drawbacks alluded to above. Some illustrative examples of devices fabricated by using these new strategies are included in the paper.