Permeability and Permittivity of naturally occurring materials are generally positive.

Plasmons, Silver, Gold and other noble metals have mu positive but epsilon negative. Victor Veselago theoretically proved in 1968 that materials with both epsilon and mu negative can support wave propagation. Almost 30 years later, in 2002, smith et al built and demonstrated first artificially synthesized material with epsilon and mu negative simultaneously.

Browning and Wolf of Defense Advanced Research projects agency defined metamaterials as A new class of ordered composites that exhibit exceptional properties not readily observed in nature. These properties arise from qualitatively new response functions that are : (1) not observed in the constituent materials and (2) result from the inclusion of artificially fabricated, extrinsic, low dimensional inhomogeneities. Metamaterials are characterized by negative index of refraction.

Observed effects with negative RI are ray refraction into same side, reversal in doppler effect, Poynting vector opposite to phase velocity- hence called LHMs. For SNG metamaterials (i). When two layers are combined a DNG is formed. (ii). Resonances, anamolous tunneling, transperancy, zero reflection are observed. For DNG metamaterials magneto-optic effect due to the presence of quasi-static magnetic field is obsereved.

Array of split ring resonators are used to realise LHMs. They consist of two concentric rings with splits at opposite ends. The split introduces capacita-ance effect that lower resonant frequency.

Such artificial materials exhibit LH properties.

Behavior of SRR at resonance

Applications of LHMs: Super lenses beyond diffraction limit Terahertz metamaterials. Invisible Cloaks. Metamaterial antennas, EBG structures.