Paraxial approximation of a negative index slab by twin telescopes

摘要

Since the concept of left-handed material has been introduced, many systems have been presented that exhibit similar properties to these materials, such as negative group velocity, negative refraction, or negative diffraction. We propose what we believe to be a new approximation of a slab of left-handed metamaterial by a system containing three lenses in an arrangement of two identical telescopes. We show that the twin telescopes and the negative index slab share the same ray transfer matrix. We discuss the limits of the approximation and present examples for which it is fully valid.