Review of the results of the COST MP0702 exercise on the sensitivity of metal-dielectric layered flat lens to fabrication inaccuracies

We summarise the results of the COST MP0702 exercise on the sensitivity of metal-dielectric layered superlens to fabrication inaccuracies. The major results of this joint task have been already published in Ref. 1, Opto-Electronics Review, vol. 18(4), pp. 446–457, 2010. The numerical analysis of the superlens is based on the transfer matrix method, the finite-difference time-domain technique, and the method of single expression, and is compared with a simplified effective medium approach. The lens is designed for imaging with subwavelength resolution at wavelength of 441 nm. Its operation may be attributed to self-collimation with a secondary role of Fabry-Perot resonant transmission. We have estimated the resolution, transmission efficiency and sensitivity with respect to fabrication inaccuracies of this superlens. The tolerance analysis indicates that the resolution and transmission efficiency are highly sensitive to even small changes of layer thicknesses.