ABSTRACT
An array of parallel metallic wires may provide the necessary properties at frequencies up to the infrared band. In order to get super-resolution, one has to use an array of subwavelength waveguides such as an array of metallic wires. An array of long thin parallel metallic wires is characterized by extreme anisotropy in the long wavelength limit. An array of metallic wires behaves to a first approximation as a material with extreme optical anisotropy characterized by the dielectric function. The imaging properties of wire medium lenses can be predicted to a very good approximation using homogenization methods. Processing of subwavelength images, such as magnification or demagnification, can be performed by tapering the array of wires. Magnifying lenses are expected to find immediate application in near-field microscopy as near-field to far-field transformers. The wire medium lenses were designed to operate at the microwave frequency range.
