Patent ID: 8786135

Claim:
A system configured to exchange energy wirelessly, comprising: a source and a load exchanging the energy wirelessly via a coupling of evanescent waves along a particular direction, wherein the source and the load are electromagnetic (EM), non-radiative and resonant structures, wherein the coupling between the structures is strong and a strength of the coupling is represented by a coupling coefficient, and wherein dimensions of the structures are smaller than a wavelength of the evanescent waves; a driver for supplying the energy to the source, wherein the source generates an EM near-field along the particular direction in response to receiving the energy, such that the EM near-field is an electric-dominant and the coupling is an electric-dominant coupling or the EM near-field is a magnetic-dominant and the coupling is a magnetic-dominant coupling; and an anisotropic metamaterial arranged on the particular direction within the EM near-field of the source, wherein the anisotropic metamaterial is a single-negative (SNG) metamaterial having a type selected from a group consisting of an ∈-negative (ENG) metamaterial and a μ-negative (MNG) metamaterial, wherein the type is selected to correspond a dominant type of the coupling, such that the SNG metamaterial is the ENG metamaterial if the coupling is the electric-dominant coupling, or the SNG metamaterial is the MNG metamaterial if the coupling is the magnetic-dominant coupling, and wherein a metamaterial property of the SNG metamaterial is aligned with the particular direction such that the coupling coefficient is increased.