Negative refraction is the name for an electromagnetic phenomenon where light rays are refracted at an interface in the reverse sense to that normally expected. Such an effect can be obtained using a metamaterial which has been designed to achieve a negative value for both (electric) permittivity ε and (magnetic) permeability μ, as in such cases the material can be assigned a negative refractive index. Such materials are sometimes called "double negative" materials.
Negative refraction occurs at interfaces between materials at which one has an ordinary positive phase velocity (i.e. a positive refractive index), and the other has the more exotic negative phase velocity (a negative refractive index).
Read more about Negative Refraction: Negative Phase Velocity, Negative Refractive Index, Refraction
Famous quotes containing the word negative:
“Mothers often are too easily intimidated by their childrens negative reactions...When the child cries or is unhappy, the mother reads this as meaning that she is a failure. This is why it is so important for a mother to know...that the process of growing up involves by definition things that her child is not going to like. Her job is not to create a bed of roses, but to help him learn how to pick his way through the thorns.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)