: by blocking, absorbing, enhancing, or bending waves, to achieve benefits that go beyond what is possible with conventional materials.
Appropriately designed metamaterials can affect waves of
index of refraction for particular wavelengths have been the focus of a large amount of research.[6][7][8] These materials are known as negative-index metamaterials
.
Potential applications of metamaterials are diverse and include
seismic metamaterials are also research areas.[10][16]
Metamaterial research is interdisciplinary and involves such fields as
radar absorbers were researched in the 1980s and 1990s as applications for artificial chiral media.[4][17][18]
Negative-index materials were first described theoretically by
wave propagation in naturally occurring materials.[8]
In 1995, John M. Guerra fabricated a sub-wavelength transparent grating (later called a photonic metamaterial) having 50 nm lines and spaces, and then coupled it with a standard oil immersion microscope objective (the combination later called a super-lens) to resolve a grating in a silicon wafer also having 50 nm lines and spaces. This super-resolved image was achieved with illumination having a wavelength of 650 nm in air.[14]
From the standpoint of governing equations, contemporary researchers can classify the realm of metamaterials into three primary branches:[27] Electromagnetic/Optical wave metamaterials, other wave metamaterials, and diffusion metamaterials. These branches are characterized by their respective governing equations, which include Maxwell's equations (a wave equation describing transverse waves), other wave equations (for longitudinal and transverse waves), and diffusion equations (pertaining to diffusion processes).[28] Crafted to govern a range of diffusion activities, diffusion metamaterials prioritize diffusion length as their central metric. This crucial parameter experiences temporal fluctuations while remaining immune to frequency variations. In contrast, wave metamaterials, designed to adjust various wave propagation paths, consider the wavelength of incoming waves as their essential metric. This wavelength remains constant over time, though it adjusts with frequency alterations. Fundamentally, the key metrics for diffusion and wave metamaterials present a stark divergence, underscoring a distinct complementary relationship between them. For comprehensive information, please refer to Section I.B, "Evolution of metamaterial physics," in Ref.[27]
electromagnetic waves that impinge on or interact with its structural features, which are smaller than the wavelength. To behave as a homogeneous material accurately described by an effective refractive index, its features must be much smaller than the wavelength.[citation needed
]
The unusual properties of metamaterials arise from the resonant response of each constituent element rather that their spatial arrangement into a lattice. It allows considering the local effective material parameters (permittivity and
photonic crystals, another class of electromagnetic materials. Unlike the local resonances, Bragg scattering and corresponding Bragg stop-band have a low-frequency limit determined by the lattice spacing. The subwavelength approximation ensures that the Bragg stop-bands with the strong spatial dispersion effects are at higher frequencies and can be neglected. The criterion for shifting the local resonance below the lower Bragg stop-band make it possible to build a photonic phase transition diagram in a parameter space, for example, size and permittivity of the constituent element. Such diagram displays the domain of structure parameters allowing the metamaterial properties observation in the electromagnetic material.[29]
For
millimeters. Microwave frequency metamaterials are usually constructed as arrays of electrically conductive elements (such as loops of wire) that have suitable inductive and capacitive characteristics. Many microwave metamaterials use split-ring resonators.[5][6]
visible light spectrum. The middle of the visible spectrum has a wavelength of approximately 560 nm (for sunlight). Photonic crystal structures are generally half this size or smaller, that is < 280 nm. [citation needed
]
surface plasmons
, which are packets of electrical charge that collectively oscillate at the surfaces of metals at optical frequencies.
Frequency selective surfaces (FSS) can exhibit subwavelength characteristics and are known variously as
artificial magnetic conductors (AMC) or High Impedance Surfaces (HIS). FSS display inductive and capacitive characteristics that are directly related to their subwavelength structure.[30]
Electromagnetic metamaterials can be divided into different classes, as follows:[3][19][4][31]
Negative-index metamaterials (NIM) are characterized by a negative index of refraction. Other terms for NIMs include "left-handed media", "media with a negative refractive index", and "backward-wave media".[3] NIMs where the negative index of refraction arises from simultaneously negative permittivity and negative permeability are also known as double negative metamaterials or double negative materials (DNG).[19]
Assuming a material well-approximated by a real permittivity and permeability, the relationship between permittivity, permeability and refractive indexn is given by . All known non-metamaterial transparent materials (glass, water, ...) possess positive and . By convention the positive square root is used for n. However, some engineered metamaterials have and . Because the product is positive, n is real. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to take the negative square root for n. When both and are positive (negative), waves travel in the forward (backward) direction. Electromagnetic waves cannot propagate in materials with and of opposite sign as the refractive index becomes imaginary. Such materials are opaque for electromagnetic radiation and examples include plasmonic materials such as metals (gold, silver, ...).
The foregoing considerations are simplistic for actual materials, which must have complex-valued and . The real parts of both and do not have to be negative for a passive material to display negative refraction.[32][33] Indeed, a negative refractive index for circularly polarized waves can also arise from chirality.[34][35] Metamaterials with negative n have numerous interesting properties:[4][36]
Snell's law (n1sinθ1 = n2sinθ2) still describes refraction, but as n2 is negative, incident and refracted rays are on the same side of the surface normal at an interface of positive and negative index materials.
to phase velocity. However, for waves (energy) to propagate, a –µ must be paired with a –ε in order to satisfy the wave number dependence on the material parameters .
Negative index of refraction derives mathematically from the vector triplet E, H and k.[4]
For
left-hand rule
, the reverse of the behavior of conventional optical materials.
To date, only metamaterials exhibit a negative index of refraction.[3][36][37]
Single negative
Single negative (SNG) metamaterials have either negative relative permittivity (εr) or negative relative permeability (µr), but not both.[19] They act as metamaterials when combined with a different, complementary SNG, jointly acting as a DNG.
Epsilon negative media (ENG) display a negative εr while µr is positive.
Mu-negative media (MNG) display a positive εr and negative µr.
optical isomers
.
Joining a slab of ENG material and slab of MNG material resulted in properties such as resonances, anomalous tunneling, transparency and zero reflection. Like negative-index materials, SNGs are innately dispersive, so their εr, µr and refraction index n, are a function of frequency.[36]
Hyperbolic
Hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) behave as a metal for certain polarization or direction of light propagation and behave as a dielectric for the other due to the negative and positive permittivity tensor components, giving extreme anisotropy. The material's dispersion relation in wavevector space forms a hyperboloid and therefore it is called a hyperbolic metamaterial. The extreme anisotropy of HMMs leads to directional propagation of light within and on the surface.[38] HMMs have showed various potential applications, such as sensing, reflection modulator,[39] imaging, steering of optical signals, enhanced plasmon resonance effects.[40]
Bandgap
Further information:
Coupled oscillation
Electromagnetic
bandgap metamaterials (EBG or EBM) control light propagation. This is accomplished either with photonic crystals (PC) or left-handed materials (LHM). PCs can prohibit light propagation altogether. Both classes can allow light to propagate in specific, designed directions and both can be designed with bandgaps at desired frequencies.[41][42]
The period size of EBGs is an appreciable fraction of the wavelength, creating constructive and destructive interference.
PC are distinguished from sub-wavelength structures, such as
tunable metamaterials, because the PC derives its properties from its bandgap characteristics. PCs are sized to match the wavelength of light, versus other metamaterials that expose sub-wavelength structure. Furthermore, PCs function by diffracting light. In contrast, metamaterial does not use diffraction.[43]
PCs have periodic inclusions that inhibit wave propagation due to the inclusions' destructive interference from scattering. The photonic bandgap property of PCs makes them the electromagnetic analog of electronic semi-conductor crystals.[44]
EBGs have the goal of creating high quality, low loss, periodic, dielectric structures. An EBG affects photons in the same way semiconductor materials affect electrons. PCs are the perfect bandgap material, because they allow no light propagation.[45] Each unit of the prescribed periodic structure acts like one atom, albeit of a much larger size.[3][45]
EBGs are designed to prevent the propagation of an allocated bandwidth of frequencies, for certain arrival angles and polarizations. Various geometries and structures have been proposed to fabricate EBG's special properties. In practice it is impossible to build a flawless EBG device.[3][4]
EBGs have been manufactured for frequencies ranging from a few gigahertz (GHz) to a few terahertz (THz), radio, microwave and mid-infrared frequency regions. EBG application developments include a transmission line, woodpiles made of square dielectric bars and several different types of low gain antennas.[3][4]
Double positive medium
Double positive mediums (DPS) do occur in nature, such as naturally occurring dielectrics. Permittivity and magnetic permeability are both positive and wave propagation is in the forward direction. Artificial materials have been fabricated which combine DPS, ENG and MNG properties.[3][19]
Bi-isotropic and bianisotropic
Categorizing metamaterials into double or single negative, or double positive, normally assumes that the metamaterial has independent electric and magnetic responses described by ε and µ. However, in many cases, the
anisotropic (which is the case for many metamaterial structures[46]), are referred to as bi-anisotropic.[47][48]
Four material parameters are intrinsic to magnetoelectric coupling of bi-isotropic media. They are the electric (E) and magnetic (H) field strengths, and electric (D) and magnetic (B) flux densities. These parameters are ε, µ, κ and χ or permittivity, permeability, strength of chirality, and the Tellegen parameter, respectively. In this type of media, material parameters do not vary with changes along a rotated coordinate system of measurements. In this sense they are invariant or scalar.[4]
The intrinsic magnetoelectric parameters, κ and χ, affect the phase of the wave. The effect of the chirality parameter is to split the refractive index. In isotropic media this results in wave propagation only if ε and µ have the same sign. In bi-isotropic media with χ assumed to be zero, and κ a non-zero value, different results appear. Either a backward wave or a forward wave can occur. Alternatively, two forward waves or two backward waves can occur, depending on the strength of the chirality parameter.
In the general case, the constitutive relations for bi-anisotropic materials read
where and are the permittivity and the permeability tensors, respectively, whereas and are the two magneto-electric tensors. If the medium is reciprocal, permittivity and permeability are symmetric tensors, and , where is the chiral tensor describing chiral electromagnetic and reciprocal magneto-electric response. The chiral tensor can be expressed as , where is the trace of , I is the identity matrix, N is a symmetric trace-free tensor, and J is an antisymmetric tensor. Such decomposition allows us to classify the reciprocal bianisotropic response and we can identify the following three main classes: (i) chiral media (), (ii) pseudochiral media (), (iii) omega media ().
Chiral
Handedness of metamaterials is a potential source of confusion as the metamaterial literature includes two conflicting uses of the terms left- and right-handed. The first refers to one of the two circularly polarized waves that are the propagating modes in chiral media. The second relates to the triplet of electric field, magnetic field and Poynting vector that arise in negative refractive index media, which in most cases are not chiral.
Generally a chiral and/or bianisotropic electromagnetic response is a consequence of 3D geometrical chirality:
extrinsic chirality, where the arrangement of a (achiral) structure together with the radiation wave vector is different from its mirror image, and observed large, tuneable linear optical activity,[51] nonlinear optical activity,[52] specular optical activity[53] and circular conversion dichroism.[54] Rizza et al.[55]
suggested 1D chiral metamaterials where the effective chiral tensor is not vanishing if the system is geometrically one-dimensional chiral (the mirror image of the entire structure cannot be superposed onto it by using translations without rotations).
3D-chiral metamaterials are constructed from
chiral
materials or resonators in which the effective chirality parameter is non-zero.
Wave propagation properties in such chiral metamaterials demonstrate that negative refraction can be realized in metamaterials with a strong chirality and positive and .[56][57] This is because the refractive index has distinct values for left and right circularly polarized waves, given by
It can be seen that a negative index will occur for one polarization if > . In this case, it is not necessary that either or both and be negative for backward wave propagation.[4] A negative refractive index due to chirality was first observed simultaneously and independently by Plum et al.[34] and Zhang et al.[35] in 2009.
FSS based
Main article:
Tunable metamaterials § Frequency selective surface based metamaterials
Frequency selective surface-based metamaterials block signals in one waveband and pass those at another waveband. They have become an alternative to fixed frequency metamaterials. They allow for optional changes of frequencies in a single medium, rather than the restrictive limitations of a fixed frequency response.[58]
Other types
Elastic
These metamaterials use different parameters to achieve a negative index of refraction in materials that are not electromagnetic. Furthermore, "a new design for elastic metamaterials that can behave either as liquids or solids over a limited frequency range may enable new applications based on the control of acoustic, elastic and
Acoustic metamaterials control, direct and manipulate
infrasonic or ultrasonic waves in gases, liquids and solids. As with electromagnetic waves, sonic waves can exhibit negative refraction.[16]
Control of sound waves is mostly accomplished through the
resonant system and the mechanical (sonic) resonance may be excited by appropriate sonic frequencies (for example audible pulses
).
Structural
Structural metamaterials provide properties such as crushability and light weight. Using
girders. Materials four orders of magnitude stiffer than conventional aerogel, but with the same density have been created. Such materials can withstand a load of at least 160,000 times their own weight by over-constraining the materials.[60][61]
A ceramic nanotruss metamaterial can be flattened and revert to its original state.[62]
Thermal
Typically materials found in nature, when homogeneous, are thermally isotropic. That is to say, heat passes through them at roughly the same rate in all directions. However, thermal metamaterials are anisotropic usually due to their highly organized internal structure. Composite materials with highly aligned internal particles or structures, such as fibers, and carbon nanotubes (CNT), are examples of this.
Nonlinear
Main article:
Nonlinear metamaterials
Metamaterials may be fabricated that include some form of
phase matching
conditions that must be satisfied in any nonlinear optical structure.
Liquid
Metafluids offer programmable properties such as viscosity, compressibility, and optical. One approach employed 50-500 micron diameter air-filled
cornstarch, it can act as either a Newtonian or a non-Newtonian fluid. Under pressure, it becomes non-Newtonian – meaning its viscosity changes in response to shear force.[66]
In 2009, Marc Briane and Graeme Milton[67] proved mathematically that one can in principle invert the sign of a 3 materials based composite in 3D made out of only positive or negative sign Hall coefficient materials. Later in 2015 Muamer Kadic et al.[68] showed that a simple perforation of isotropic material can lead to its change of sign of the Hall coefficient. This theoretical claim was finally experimentally demonstrated by Christian Kern et al.[69]
In 2015, it was also demonstrated by Christian Kern et al. that an anisotropic perforation of a single material can lead to a yet more unusual effect namely the parallel Hall effect.[70] This means that the induced electric field inside a conducting media is no longer orthogonal to the current and the magnetic field but is actually parallel to the latest.
Meta-biomaterials
Meta-biomaterials have been purposefully crafted to engage with biological systems, amalgamating principles from both metamaterial science and biological areas. Engineered at the nanoscale, these materials adeptly manipulate electromagnetic, acoustic, or thermal properties to facilitate biological processes. Through meticulous adjustment of their structure and composition, meta-biomaterials hold promise in augmenting various biomedical technologies such as medical imaging,[71] drug delivery,[72] and tissue engineering.[73] This underscores the importance of comprehending biological systems through the interdisciplinary lens of materials science.
Tunable metamaterials allow arbitrary adjustments to frequency changes in the refractive index. A tunable metamaterial expands beyond the bandwidth limitations in left-handed materials by constructing various types of metamaterials.
Plasmonic
Main article:
Plasmonic metamaterials
Plasmonic metamaterials exploit
surface plasmon polaritons. Bulk plasma oscillations make possible the effect of negative mass (density).[77][78]
Applications
Metamaterials are under consideration for many applications.[79] Metamaterial antennas are commercially available.
In 2007, one researcher stated that for metamaterial applications to be realized, energy loss must be reduced, materials must be extended into three-dimensional
isotropic materials and production techniques must be industrialized.[80]
Antennas
Main article:
Metamaterial antennas
Metamaterial antennas are a class of antennas that use metamaterials to improve performance.[13][19][81][82] Demonstrations showed that metamaterials could enhance an antenna's radiated power.[13][83] Materials that can attain negative permeability allow for properties such as small antenna size, high directivity and tunable frequency.[13][19]
A metamaterial absorber manipulates the loss components of metamaterials' permittivity and magnetic permeability, to absorb large amounts of
solar photovoltaic applications.[87] Loss components are also relevant in applications of negative refractive index (photonic metamaterials, antenna systems) or transformation optics (metamaterial cloaking
, celestial mechanics), but often are not used in these applications.
A superlens is a two or three-dimensional device that uses metamaterials, usually with negative refraction properties, to achieve resolution beyond the
diffraction limit (ideally, infinite resolution). Such a behaviour is enabled by the capability of double-negative materials to yield negative phase velocity. The diffraction limit is inherent in conventional optical devices or lenses.[88][89]
Metamaterials are a potential basis for a practical
proof of principle was demonstrated on October 19, 2006. No practical cloaks are publicly known to exist.[90][91][92][93][94][95]
Radar cross-section (RCS-)reducing metamaterials
Metamaterials have applications in
radar-absorbent material (RAM) or by purpose shaping of the targets such that the scattered energy can be redirected away from the source. While RAMs have narrow frequency band functionality, purpose shaping limits the aerodynamic performance of the target. More recently, metamaterials or metasurfaces are synthesized that can redirect the scattered energy away from the source using either array theory[96][97][98][99] or generalized Snell's law.[100][101]
This has led to aerodynamically favorable shapes for the targets with the reduced RCS.
Seismic protection
Main article:
Seismic metamaterials
Seismic metamaterials counteract the adverse effects of seismic waves on man-made structures.[10][102][103]
Sound filtering
Metamaterials textured with nanoscale wrinkles could control sound or light signals, such as changing a material's color or improving
sound suppression. The materials can be made through a high-precision, multi-layer deposition process. The thickness of each layer can be controlled within a fraction of a wavelength. The material is then compressed, creating precise wrinkles whose spacing can cause scattering of selected frequencies.[104][105]
Guided mode manipulations
Metamaterials can be integrated with
electromagnetic waves (meta-waveguide).[106] Subwavelength structures like metamaterials can be integrated with for instance silicon waveguides to develop and polarization beam splitters[107] and optical couplers,[108] adding new degrees of freedom of controlling light propagation at nanoscale for integrated photonic devices.[109] Other applications such as integrated mode converters,[110] polarization (de)multiplexers,[111] structured light generation,[112] and on-chip bio-sensors[113] can be developed.[106]
Theoretical models
All materials are made of
ferroelectric atom, while the ring acts as an inductorL, while the open section acts as a capacitorC. The ring as a whole acts as an LC circuit
. When the electromagnetic field passes through the ring, an induced current is created. The generated field is perpendicular to the light's magnetic field. The magnetic resonance results in a negative permeability; the refraction index is negative as well. (The lens is not truly flat, since the structure's capacitance imposes a slope for the electric induction.)
Several (mathematical) material models
plasma frequency. Other component distinctions call for the use of one of these models, depending on its polarity or purpose.[3]
Three-dimensional composites of metal/non-metallic inclusions periodically/randomly embedded in a low permittivity matrix are usually modeled by analytical methods, including mixing formulas and scattering-matrix based methods. The particle is modeled by either an electric dipole parallel to the electric field or a pair of crossed electric and magnetic dipoles parallel to the electric and magnetic fields, respectively, of the applied wave. These dipoles are the leading terms in the multipole series. They are the only existing ones for a homogeneous sphere, whose polarizability can be easily obtained from the Mie scattering coefficients. In general, this procedure is known as the "point-dipole approximation", which is a good approximation for metamaterials consisting of composites of electrically small spheres. Merits of these methods include low calculation cost and mathematical simplicity.[114][115]
The Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI) encompasses dozens of Universities and a few government organizations. Participating universities include UC Berkeley, UC Los Angeles, UC San Diego, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Imperial College in London. The sponsors are
MURI supports research that intersects more than one traditional science and engineering discipline to accelerate both research and translation to applications. As of 2009, 69 academic institutions were expected to participate in 41 research efforts.[117]
Metamorphose
The Virtual Institute for Artificial Electromagnetic Materials and Metamaterials "Metamorphose VI AISBL" is an international association to promote artificial electromagnetic materials and metamaterials. It organizes scientific conferences, supports specialized journals, creates and manages research programs, provides training programs (including PhD and training programs for industrial partners); and technology transfer to European Industry.[118][119]
METATOY (Metamaterial for rays)—composed of super-wavelength structures, such as small arrays of prisms and lenses and can operate over a broad band of frequencies
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