ABSTRACT
The modern history of “electromagnetic metamaterials,” often called simply as “metamaterials” (MTM) can probably be counted from the seminal paper where an ambitious goal to create a so-called perfect lens was put forward by J. B. Pendry. For such a “lens” one needs to design an artificial medium which would possess specific properties, not observed in natural materials. The diffraction limit, however, implies that the image is created only by propagating waves, and the subwavelength information contained in “evanescent waves,” exponentially decaying with the distance from the field source, is lost in the image domain. The practical importance of already developed MTM for numerous applications as well as prospectives of MTM in both technological and economical aspects are still subjects of broad and keen discussions. The term “metamaterials” was introduced and established in 2002–2004 in interdisciplinary scientific conferences for radio and optical engineers.
