Tunable Focusing in Natural Hyperbolic Magnetic Media

While optical effects such as negative refraction and imaging obtained from slab lenses with plane parallel sides are widely studied using metamaterials, it is less well known that these effects can occur naturally in certain materials. We discuss a class of natural hyperbolic materials that not only display similar effects but also allow one to modify the focal length of a slab lens with an externally applied magnetic field. This is possible because antiferromagnets are gyrotropic and support magnetic polaritons whose frequencies are sensitive to magnetic fields. In addition, a rich caustic structure emerges at low temperatures, when damping should be small. These materials also produce slab focusing at higher temperatures, although the caustic structure disappears.