Resolution of Near-Field Microwave Target Detection and Imaging by Using Flat LHM Lens

It is demonstrated in this paper that higher focusing resolution will be provided by flat left-handed metamaterial (LHM) lens if compared to convex dielectric lens and elliptical reflector focusing system. High-resolution near-field microwave target detection and imaging with flat LHM lens can be implemented by scanning the focal point of the flat LHM lens in the region under detection and screening directly the field intensity distribution of backscattered microwave refocused by the flat LHM lens. Numerical simulations demonstrate that sub-wavelength imaging resolution can be obtained by the proposed approach due to the sub-wavelength focusing resolution of flat LHM lens. Moreover, almost unique imaging resolution for the detection and imaging of target at different depths is also demonstrated. For practical LHM lenses, it is shown that the losses of LHM up to the order as reported in some LHM experiments will limit the sub-wavelength resolution of the proposed approach to an acceptable level.