Provided herein are artificial dielectric materials comprising a plurality of sheets of a dielectric material and a plurality of short conductive tubes placed in the sheets of the dielectric material, wherein the sheets of the dielectric material containing the short conductive tubes are separated by sheets of the dielectric material without the short conductive tubes, and wherein axes of the tubes are orientated along at least two different directions. Also provided are methods for manufacture of such materials and cylindrical focusing lenses comprising such artificial dielectric materials. The artificial dielectric materials, lenses and their manufacture may provide desirable dielectric properties compared with known materials and manufacturing advantages.