Image formation and detection in metamaterial super-lenses

The aim of this contribution is to analyze the sub-diffraction image formation and detection in metamaterial super-lenses. It is shown that, owing to the evanescent nature of the involved electromagnetic fields, the image detection process can yield quite different results from those expected from the image formation theory. In particular, it is shown that, under some circumstances, an appropriate detection procedure would lead to a three-dimensional imaging. The reported results are expected to help to clarify some previously reported experimental results