Using conventional materials, the resolution of focusing and imaging devices is limited by diffraction to about half the wavelength of light, as high spatial frequencies do not propagate in isotropic materials. Wire array metamaterials, because of their extreme anisotropy, can beat this limit; however, focusing with these has only been demonstrated up to microwave frequencies and using propagation over a few wavelengths only. Here we show that the principle can be scaled to frequencies orders of magnitudes higher and to considerably longer propagation lengths. We demonstrate imaging through straight and tapered wire arrays operating in the terahertz spectrum, with unprecedented propagation of near field information over hundreds of wavelengths and focusing down to 1/28 of the wavelength with a net increase in power density. Applications could include in vivo terahertz-endoscopes with resolution compatible with imaging individual cells.

The influences of substrate and metal properties on the magnetic response of metamaterials at terahertz region J. Appl. Phys.Electromagnetic metamaterials attract much attention since they can be engineered to exhibit optical properties not found in nature. Their fabrication, however, is challenging, especially in volume. We introduce drawing as a means of fabricating metamaterials, thus demonstrating a terahertz metamaterial. We codraw polymethyl-methacrylate and indium, producing several meters of metamaterial with wire diameters down to ϳ10 m, and lattice constants of ϳ100 m. We experimentally characterize the transmission properties of different samples, observing high-pass filtering between 0.3-0.4 THz, in good agreement with simulations.

We report approximately 22 dB of Raman gain in single mode As(2)Se(3) chalcogenide glass fiber using 15 ps optical pump pulses from 1470 nm to 1560 nm. We employ a novel technique of cross-phase modulation induced sideband amplification to map out the Raman gain spectrum of this glass, and investigate the role of both degenerate and non-degenerate (ND) two-photon absorption (TPA). We find that for materials such as As(2)Se(3) where the Raman gain coefficient (gR) and TPA are comparable, it is critical to know and account for the role of both of these in order to achieve appreciable Raman gain. This is highlighted by our results, where we achieve significantly higher Raman gain at the longest pump wavelength (1560 nm), despite the fact that the Raman gain coefficient itself (gR) is smallest at this wavelength. This occurs because the TPA is significantly larger for shorter wavelengths in As(2)Se(3). We conclude, therefore, that for Raman gain applications in As(2)Se(3), L-band operation is strongly favored over C-band operation.

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