Physicists at Oregon State University have made an optical advance that may lead to the creation of the world's first negative refraction "superlens". Their discovery consists of an optimal configuration for a superlens focus, simultaneously doubling its previously assumed maximum resolution. Possible applications for superlens imaging technology would benefit from a field of vision that researchers hope will allow magnification at the nanometer level, including but not limited to molecular biology and electronic data storage.

"All natural materials have positive refraction, and if we could create a working lens with negative refraction, it would open up a whole new field of optical possibilities."

Read the article. (ScienceBlog)