Metamaterials

Metamaterials are artificial materials with small-scale structures and patterns that are designed to manipulate electromagnetic waves such as light with a negative index of refraction.

In 2001, scientists from the University of California at San Diego described an unusual composite material that had a negative index, reversing Snell’s Law. This odd material was a mix of fiberglass, copper rings, and wires capable of focusing light in novel ways. Microwaves emerged from the material in the exact opposite direction from that predicted by Snell’s Law.

In 2007 Henri Lezec achieved negative refraction for visible light. In order to create an object that acted as if it were made of negatively refracting material, Lezec and his team built a prism of layered metals perforated by a maze of nanoscale channels. This was the first time that physicists had devised a way to make visible light travel in a direction opposite from the way it traditionally bends when passing from one material to another.

Applications

 * they enhance an antenna's radiated power
 * they absorb large amounts of electromagnetic radiation, useful for solar photovoltaic applications
 * a superlens uses metamaterials to achieve resolution beyond the diffraction limit and may approach infinite resolution within reality, in order to one day image objects as small as molecules, atoms, and beyond.
 * they are a potential basis for a practical cloaking or invisibility device
 * seismic metamaterials counteract the adverse effects of seismic waves on man-made structures, providing protection against earthquakes
 * metamaterials textured with nanoscale wrinkles could control sound or light signals, leading to nondestructive material testing, medical diagnostics and sound suppression.