1-D, 2-D and 3-D Negative-Refraction Metamaterials at Optical Frequencies: Optical Nano-Transmission-Line and Circuit Theory

In recent years metamaterials have offered new possibilities for overcoming some of the intrinsic limitations in wave propagation. Their realization at microwave frequencies has followed two different paths; one consisting of embedding resonant inclusions in a host dielectric, and the other following a transmission-line approach, i.e., building 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D cascades of circuit elements, respectively, as linear, planar or bulk right- or left-handed metamaterials. The latter is known to provide larger bandwidth and better robustness to ohmic losses. Extending these concepts to optical frequencies is a challenging task, due to changes in material response to electromagnetic waves at these frequencies. However, recently we have studied theoretically how it may be possible to have circuit nano-elements at these frequencies by properly exploiting plasmonic resonances. Here we present our theoretical work on translating the circuit concepts of right- and left-handed metamaterials into optical frequencies by applying the analogy between nanoparticles and nanocircuit elements in transmission lines. We discuss how it is possible to synthesize optical negative-refraction metamaterials by properly cascading plasmonic and non-plasmonic elements in 1-D, 2-D and 3-D geometries.