Negative Index Materials: Metamaterials

In the past few years, new advances in structured electromagnetic materials have given growth to materials with negative refractive index, which have both negative dielectric permittivity and negative magnetic permeability in some frequency ranges. These negative refractive index materials exhibit exotic properties which are not easily achieved using naturally occurring materials. This awareness of a negative refractive index opens up new theoretical frontiers in optics, electromagnetism, physics, material sciences, nanotechnology, engineering and many other branches of sciences. One much discussed case is the concept of a perfect lens that allows imaging with sub wavelength image resolution. According to researchers, controlling negative refraction will help in the development of superlenses that magnify the objects too small to see with a conventional optical microscope. Here in this paper we review the basic concepts and ideas of a negative refractive index material.First we will present the ideas of Metamaterials, which enable to design the new materials with negative dielectric permittivity, negative magnetic permeability and negative refractive index then we will discuss the various types and applications of metamaterials.