Metamaterials in the far infrared: ideas for left-handed metamaterials and micro- and nanocircuit elements in the terahertz regime

In the present work, the possibility of translating down the concepts of metamaterials into the far-infrared and terahertz regimes, in order to propose ideas for realization of left-handed metamaterials and nano- and micro-circuit elements at few terahertzes are investigated. The terahertz regime, indeed, is a transition region of spectrum between the microwave and the infrared-optical frequencies, where such applications have not been studied in details. The technological interest in scaling up the classic communications and circuit concepts from the radio frequencies (RF) microwaves to higher frequencies is bringing much interest in this regime of frequency