In this talk I will describe what surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) are, how they are excited, and how they can be used to produce both very large, and effectively negative, relative permittivities and group refractive indices. The effectively negative permittivities and refractive indices that can be produced in metal/dielectric composite nanostructures has allowed the first demonstration of 2-D cloaking in the visible part of the spectrum. The general principle and limitations of practical cloaking will also be discussed, and some of the approaches that are being considered for reducing the visibility of 3-D objects. The effectively large refractive indices that can be experienced by SPPs also allows the construction of super-resolution microscopes.

Location Physics Bldg., Room 401