Whilst optics is one of the oldest field in science, there are still aspects of electromagnetism
that we are only beginning to uncover. For instance, it was demonstrated
that materials with simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability exhibit
certain exotic behavior; where familiar physical phenomena, such as refraction, are
reversed. As such, these materials came to be known as negative refractive index
materials (NRIM) and their collective properties as negative refraction. One of the
most important and remarkable property of NRIM is perfect lensing - the ability to
transport both supra and sub-wavelength optical information from one surface (object
plane) to another (image plane), forming images with unprecedented resolution,
beyond the diffraction limit. Perfect lensing itself is a consequence of deeper symmetries
in electromagnetism, encapsulated in the language of transformation optics
- with which we have both a descriptive tool to unify diverse electromagnetic configuarations,
as well as a prescriptive tool to design media which bends light at will.
While, such transformation medium and NRIM have been demonstrably realised
using metamaterials, several challenges remain, of which loss is the major challenge.
It is therefore under this trinity of concepts: metamaterials, negative refraction
and transformation optics that this thesis is presented. In particular, this thesis
illustrates the convergence of the later two concepts, giving rise to a novel class
of perfect lens - the compact perfect lens. Here, we shall investigate, their unique
properties, construction, challenges, and the dynamics of these lenses. In particular
the formulation to study dynamics and effects of losses, is universal; applicable to
lenses of any geometry. Finally we shall also propose an alternative universal, top-down
approach to overcome losses in perfect lenses using phase conjugation, and
demonstrate the capacity of such lenses to see through lossy, translucent obstacles.