Temperature dependence of the near-field superlensing effect for single metal layers and stacked metal-dielectric films

We have theoretically investigated the effects of temperature on the superlensing properties of single metal and stacked metal-dielectric films. We find that decreasing the temperature usually has the effect of slightly lowering the optimum operating frequency of the superlens. The imaging performance of various designs are evaluated by analytic calculations and simulations. Accurate modeling of the temperature dependence on the focusing/imaging properties of such structures is important for many potential applications and may in certain suggested cases lead to direct applications as e.g. local temperature sensing.