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The quest for invisibility has inspired a deep ardour in the research community over the past decade. The invention of metamaterials has boosted the research on electromagnetic cloaking due to its unusual electromagnetic parameters under plane wave incidence. In this study, we propose a novel cloaking scheme, using dogbone metamaterials, for effectively routing the incident electromagnetic fields around a target metal cylinder under consideration. Notable reduction in the scattered power is observed from the target in comparison to an uncloaked target. Experiments and simulations validate an effective reduction in the scattering cross section of the target and effective guiding of the incident plane wave around the target.

A modification of effective medium theory for two-component nonmagnetic metal---dielectric metamaterials is developed for use in the microwave frequency range. The metamaterial is represented as an unbounded isotropic dielectric host material with periodically embedded nonmagnetic metallic inclusions of cylindrical or spherical shape. The effective electromagnetic response of the metamaterial is represented by the tensor of the effective relative permittivity and tensor of the effective relative permeability. The losses of the metamaterial are also evaluated in this study. A physical interpretation for the nature of the effective properties of such metamaterials is given. Analytical models of the proposed effective medium theory are benchmarked against numerical simulations using commercial electromagnetic software. Two compact microwave rectangular dual-band patch antennas on such metamaterial substrates are designed in this study.

We study the controversy about the proper determination of the electromagnetic energy-flux field in anisotropic materials, which has been revived due to the relatively recent experiments on negative refraction in metamaterials. Rather than analyzing energy-balance arguments, we use a pragmatic approach inspired by geometrical optics, and compare the predictions on angles of refraction at a flat interface of two possible choices on the energy flux: and . We carry out this comparison for a monochromatic Gaussian beam propagating in an anisotropic non-dissipative anisotropic metamaterial, in which the spatial localization of the electromagnetic field allows a more natural assignment of directions, in contrast to the usual study of plane waves. We compare our approach with the formalism of geometrical optics, which we generalize and analyze numerically the consequences of either choice.

We theoretically studied how to directly engineer the constitutive parameters of metamaterials for perfect absorbers of electromagnetic waves. As an example, we numerically investigated the necessary refractive index n and extinction coefficient k and the relative permittivity ε and permeability μ of a metamaterial anti-reflection layer, which could cancel the reflection from a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (α-Si:H) thin film on a metal substrate, within the visible wavelength range from 300 to 800 nm. We found that the metamaterial anti-reflection layer should have a negative refractive index (n 0) for long-wavelength visible light. The relative permittivity ε and permeability μ could be fitted by the Lorentz model, which exhibited electric and magnetic resonances, respectively.

An electromagnetic cloaking device made with composite materials and operating in the range of near-infrared light is presented. The invisibility cloak is designed with transformation optics and consists of 15 concentric rings of different anisotropic two-phase metal-dielectric composites. The anisotropic material parameters of the nanocomposites are expressed with the Maxwell-Garnett mixing rule. The finite element simulation of the concealment produced by the multilayer nanocomposite is discussed. The geometry of the inclusions and the material parameters of the composites are determined with differential evolution-based optimization.

Microwave metamaterials show promise in numerous low-power applications, ranging from strip lines to antennas. In general, metamaterials allow microwave designers to obtain electromagnetic characteristics not typically available in nature, leading to new behavior as well as reductions in the size of typical devices. High-power microwave (HPM) sources were efficient in the conventional microwave source community. We consider a specific use of metamaterials as a method to reduce the size of waveguide used for power transmission, particularly, a configuration in which an array of split-ring resonators (SRRs), forming a “mu-negative” structure, allows transmission of power in a waveguide well below the cutoff frequency. This configuration would not be used in an actual HPM device, but explores the methods and considerations that might be required for developing a metamaterial structure for either making HPM sources more compact or developing new types of interaction at these high powers. For any HPM application, a microwave structure must be able to sustain high electric and magnetic fields, as well as high peak and possibly average power. The challenge for metamaterials consists of devising the subwavelength structures (a defining characteristic of metamaterials) that can sustain such fields. In particular, one must understand the sensitivity of any metamaterial system to changes in the individual elements, which in high power pertains mainly to the loss of an individual resonator element. As such a sample system, we explore the physical operating characteristics of the waveguide system loaded with an array of SRRs, particularly the role of defects on its properties. Such defects would form an important feature in any high-power application in which subwavelength structures can be damaged by high field stresses.

Transformation optics provides a geometry-based tool to create new components taking advantage of artificial metamaterials with optical properties that are not available in nature. Unfortunately, although guided electromagnetic waves are crucial for optical circuitry, transformation optics is not yet compatible with two-dimensional slab waveguides. Indeed, after determining the propagation of confined waves along the waveguide with a two-dimensional coordinate transformation, the conventional application of transformation optics results in metamaterials whose properties are insensitive to the coordinate perpendicular to the waveguide, leading to bulky, and therefore impractical, designs. In this contribution, we formulate an alternative framework that leads to feasible coordinate-based designs of two-dimensional waveguides. To this end, we characterize a guided transverse-magnetic light mode by relevant electromagnetic equations: a Helmholtz equation to account for wave propagation and a dispersion relation to impose a continuous light profile at the interface. By considering how two-dimensional conformal transformations transform these equations, we are able to materialize the coordinate-designed flows with a nonmagnetic metamaterial core of varying thickness, obtaining a two-dimensional device. We numerically demonstrate the effectiveness and versatility of our equivalence relations with three crucial functionalities, a beam bender, a beam splitter and a conformal lens, on a qualitative and quantitative level, by respectively comparing the electromagnetic fields inside and the transmission of our two-dimensional metamaterial devices to that of their three-dimensional counterparts at telecom wavelengths. As a result, we envision that one coordinate-based multifunctional waveguide component may seamlessly split and bend light beams on the landscape of an optical chip. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

While typically designed to manipulate classical light, metamaterials have many potential applications for quantum optics as well. We argue why a quantum optical effective-medium theory is needed. We present such a theory for layered metamaterials that is valid for light propagation in all spatial directions, thereby generalizing earlier work for one-dimensional propagation. In contrast to classical effective-medium theory there is an additional effective parameter that describes quantum noise. Our results for metamaterials are based on a rather general Lagrangian theory for the quantum electrodynamics of media with both loss and gain. In the second part of this paper, we present a new application of transformation optics whereby local spontaneous-emission rates of quantum emitters can be designed. This follows from an analysis how electromagnetic Green functions trans- form under coordinate transformations. Spontaneous-emission rates can be either enhanced or suppressed using invisibility cloaks or gradient index lenses. Furthermore, the anisotropic material profile of the cloak enables the directional control of spontaneous emission. MOE (Min. of Education, S’pore) Published version

In this paper, an analytical and numerical study of a new type of electromagnetic absorber, operating in the infrared and optical regime, is proposed. Absorption is obtained by exploiting Epsilon-Near-Zero materials. The structure electromagnetic properties are analytically described by using a new closed-form formula. In this way, it is possible to correlate the electromagnetic absorption properties of the structure with its geometrical characteristics. Good agreement between analytical and numerical results was achieved. Moreover, an absorption in a wide angle range (0°-80°), for different resonant frequencies (multi-band) with a large frequency bandwidth (wideband) for small structure thicknesses (d = λp/4) is obtained.

Almost a decade ago, transformation optics established a geometrical perspective to describe the interaction of light with structured matter, enhancing our understanding and control of light. However, despite their huge technological relevance in applications such as optical circuitry, optical detection, and actuation, guided electromagnetic waves along dielectric waveguides have not yet benefited from the flexibility and conceptual simplicity of transformation optics. Indeed, transformation optics inherently imposes metamaterials not only inside the waveguide's core but also in the surrounding substrate and cladding. Here we restore the two-dimensional nature of guided electromagnetic waves by introducing a thickness variation on an anisotropic dielectric core according to alternative two-dimensional equivalence relations. Our waveguides require metamaterials only inside the core with the additional advantage that the metamaterials need not be magnetic and, hence, our purely dielectric waveguides are low loss. We verify the versatility of our theory with full wave simulations of three crucial functionalities: beam bending, beam splitting, and lensing. Our method opens up the toolbox of transformation optics to a plethora of waveguide-based devices.

Metamaterials with tunable negative permeability are proposed and investigated theoretically in this paper. First, the model of the dielectric bilayer sphere embedded in the dielectric substrate is put forward. Second, expressions of the electromagnetic fields in the model are derived based on the Mie scattering theory, and the general formula for the effective permeability of the model is deduced via the Maxwell-Garnett theory, which is further verified through the simulation results. Finally, the tunable bandwidth of the negative permeability of the metamaterials changing with the geometrical parameters is investigated based on the full-wave simulations, and the relative mechanisms are also discussed. It is believed that the results would be helpful for the practical applications of the metamaterials, and the metamaterials with tunable negative permeability proposed in the paper would facilitate the constructions of the left-handed materials in some degree.

Stealth technology in terms of absorption of electromagnetic waves is a most valuable research area for military purposes. Development of radar absorbing materials (RAM) had been actively researched for a quite long time. In the RAM design, weight, thickness, absorptivity, environmental resistance and mechanical strength are the key factors and therefore development of RAM with low density and high strength is a challenging task. As an alternative, research interest has shifted towards radar absorbing structures (RAS) and metamaterial is one of the lucrative options for the development of RAS. Metamaterials are a new class of ordered composites that exhibit exceptional electromagnetic properties not readily observed in nature. Built from microstructure that is small compared to wavelength of operation, metamaterials can be designed with effective permittivity and permeability values that can be large or small or even negative at any selected frequency. In this review paper, we first place the stealth technology in brief and then concept of metamaterials in context of conventional materials. We then discuss reflection theory of metamaterials from stealth point of view. Next section deals with recent progress towards its application as electromagnetic absorbers and future prospects especially in higher frequency region. Defence Science Journal, 2012, 62(4), pp.261-268 , DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.62.1514

A large scale homogenous invisibility cloak functioning at terahertz frequencies is reported. The terahertz invisibility device features a large concealed volume, low loss, and broad bandwidth. In particular, it is capable of hiding objects with a dimension nearly an order of magnitude larger than that of its lithographic counterpart, but without involving complex and time-consuming cleanroom processing.

We used newly developed experimental methods to collect educational video clips of electromagnetic waves propagating at the speed of light. The terahertz frequency waves were generated and detected in LiNbO3 crystals structured to reproduce classic optical geometries and experiments, such as two-slit interference and diffraction from a grating. Direct visualization of the phase fronts as the electromagnetic pulses propagate, reflect, diffract, and interfere helps develop intuition and understanding about the fundamental behavior of light and waves. We believe these videos will be a valuable addition to lectures on introductory optics and physics, because they bring contemporary research to the classroom and provide clear and direct experimental demonstrations of light and wave behavior.

The major issue regarding magnetic response in nature—“negative values for the permeability μ of material parameters, especially in terahertz or optical region” makes the electromagnetic properties of natural materials asymmetric. Recently, research in metamaterials has grown in significance because these artificial materials can demonstrate special and, indeed, extraordinary electromagnetic phenomena such as the inverse of Snell’s law and novel applications. A critical topic in metamaterials is the artificial negative magnetic response, which can be designed in the higher frequency regime (from microwave to optical range). Artificial magnetism illustrates new physics and new applications, which have been demonstrated over the past few years. In this review, we present recent developments in research on artificial magnetic metamaterials including split-ring resonator structures, sandwich structures, and high permittivity-based dielectric composites. Engineering applications such as invisibility cloaking, negative refractive index medium, and slowing light fall into this category. We also discuss the possibility that metamaterials can be suitable for realizing new and exotic electromagnetic properties.

We discuss methods for hiding of objects from detection by electromagnetic waves (cloaking), and also ways by which cloaked objects may be detected. The possibility of detection by means of thermal radiation emitted when electromagnetic energy is resonantly absorbed motivates the calculation of local density of states (LDOS), which controls the ability of a source inside a structured system to radiate. We give the first results of an investigation of the LDOS for systems which cloak by resonant interaction with electromagnetic fields. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

We review some recent approaches to transmission enhancement and light harvesting based on optical nano-antennas and metamaterials. Nano-cavity antennas are used to enhance the extraordinary transmission of TM-polarized light through vertical nano-slits in a metal film. The enhanced transmission of TE-polarized waves through an array of subwavelength-slits in a thin metal film at low frequencies (including microwave) is also investigated. Light harvesting with a metamaterial cloaking shell is also demonstrated.

Electromagnetic cloaking has aroused increasing interest in the scientific community, especially amongst researchers who are developing so-called metamaterials - artificial composites having exotic electromagnetic properties. In this paper we review the basic principles of metamaterials, especially those for cloaking applications, and describe the recent developments in the field of electromagnetic cloaking. Attention is given also to the recently proposed cloaking technique which is based on networks of transmission lines.

Metamaterials are understood to be artificially engineered materials that exhibit unusual or difficult to obtain electromagnetic (EM) properties. Such properties would include negative or low values of permittivity, permeability and index of refraction. In this article, we review the fundamentals of metamaterials with emphasis on negative-refractive-index ones, which are synthesized using loaded transmission lines. A number of applications of such metamaterials are discussed, including peculiar lenses that can overcome the diffraction limit and small antennas for emerging wireless communication applications.

Features of spatial power spectrum (SPS) of scattered radiation in a randomly inhomogeneous medium with strongly prolated anisotropic inhomogeneities of dielectric permittivity are investigated. In single scattering approximation, it has been shown that a pronounced gap along a direction of prolate inhomogeneities appears in SPS. Features of SPS of multiple scattered waves at oblique illumination of a boundary of randomly-inhomogeneous medium with prolate irregularities have been analytically studied using smooth perturbation method taking into account diffraction effects. Numerical calculations have shown that with an increase of a distance passing by 192 Gavrilenko et al. the wave in random media, SPS has a double-peaked shape and a gap substantially increases. Its maximum is slightly changed and the width is broadening. The results have been obtained analytically for the first time and could find extensive practical application in optics and be useful in development of principles of remote sensing of random media.

Manipulation of radiation is required for enabling a span of electromagnetic applications. Since properties of antennas and scatterers are very sensitive to the surrounding environment, macroscopic artificially created materials are good candidates for shaping their characteristics. In particular, metamaterials enable controlling both dispersion and density of electromagnetic states, available for scattering from an object. As a result, properly designed electromagnetic environments could govern wave phenomena and tailor various characteristics. Here electromagnetic properties of scattering dipoles, situated inside a wire medium (metamaterial), are analyzed both numerically and experimentally. The effect of the metamaterial geometry, dipole arrangement inside the medium, and frequency of the incident radiation on the scattering phenomena is studied in detail. It is shown that the resonance of the dipole hybridizes with Fabry-Perot modes of the metamaterial, giving rise to a complete reshaping of electromagnetic properties. Regimes of controlled scattering suppression and super-scattering are experimentally observed. Numerical analysis is in agreement with the experiment, performed at the GHz spectral range. The reported approach to scattering control with metamaterials could be directly mapped into optical and infrared spectral ranges by employing scalability properties of Maxwell's equations.

In this letter, we find that gradient index metamaterials (GIMs) could be utilized to manipulate wave propagation in waveguides. Through manipulating the conversion between propagating wave and surface wave, we can design some interesting applications in waveguides, such as controlling transmission effect, realizing bending waveguide and achieving waveguide splitting effect. These devices not only work for both transverse electric and magnetic polarized waves, but also function for a broadband of spectra. Numerical simulations are performed to verify our findings.

Anomalous field enhancement accompanied by resonant absorption phenomenon was originally discussed in the context of plasma physics and in applications related to radio-communications between the ground and spacecraft returning to Earth. Indeed, there is a critical period of time when all communications are lost due to the reflection/absorption of electromagnetic waves by the sheath of plasma created by a high speed vehicle re-entering the atmosphere. While detailed experimental studies of these phenomena in space are challenging, the emergence of electromagnetic metamaterials enables researchers exceptional flexibility to study them in the laboratory environment. Here, we experimentally demonstrated the strong localized field enhancement of magnetic field for an electromagnetic wave propagating in Mie-resonance-based inhomogeneous metamaterials with magnetic permeability gradually changing from positive to negative values. Although these experiments were performed in the microwave frequency range, the proposed all-dielectric approach to transition metamaterials can be extended to terahertz, infrared and visible frequencies. We anticipate that these results, besides most basic science aspects, hold the potential for numerous applications, including low-intensity nonlinear transformation optics, topological photonics and the broader area of surface and interface science.

Since its inception in 2006, transformation optics has become an established tool to understand and design electromagnetic systems. It provides a geometrical perspective into the properties of light waves without the need for a ray approximation. Most studies have focused on modifying the trajectories of light rays, e.g. beam benders, lenses, invisibility cloaks, etc. In this contribution, we explore transformation optics beyond the manipulation of light trajectories. With a few well-chosen examples, we demonstrate that transformation optics can be used to manipulate electromagnetic fields up to an unprecedented level. In the first example, we introduce an electromagnetic cavity that allows for deep subwavelength confinement of light. The cavity is designed with transformation optics even though the concept of trajectory ceases to have any meaning in a structure as small as this cavity. In the second example, we show that the properties of Cherenkov light emitted in a transformation-optical material can be understood and modified from simple geometric considerations. Finally, we show that optical forces—a quadratic function of the fields—follow the rules of transformation optics too. By applying a folded coordinate transformation to a pair of waveguides, optical forces can be enhanced just as if the waveguides were closer together. With these examples, we open up an entirely new spectrum of devices that can be conceived using transformation optics.

The control of electromagnetic radiation in transformation optical metamaterials brings the development of vast variety of optical devices. Of a particular importance is the possibility to control the propagation of light with light. In this work, we use a structured planar cavity to enhance the thermo-optic effect in a transformation optical waveguide. In the process, a control laser produces apparent inhomogeneous refractive index change inside the waveguides. The trajectory of a second probe laser beam is then continuously tuned in the experiment. The experimental results agree well with the developed theory. The reported method can provide a new approach toward development of transformation optical devices where active all-optical control of the impinging light can be achieved.

A recently published theory has suggested that a cloak of invisibility is in principle possible, at least over a narrow frequency band. We describe here the first practical realization of such a cloak; in our demonstration, a copper cylinder was “hidden” inside a cloak constructed according to the previous theoretical prescription. The cloak was constructed with the use of artificially structured metamaterials, designed for operation over a band of microwave frequencies. The cloak decreased scattering from the hidden object while at the same time reducing its shadow, so that the cloak and object combined began to resemble empty space.

An invisibility device should guide light around an object as if nothing were there, regardless of where the light comes from. Ideal invisibility devices are impossible, owing to the wave nature of light. This study develops a general recipe for the design of media that create perfect invisibility within the accuracy of geometrical optics. The imperfections of invisibility can be made arbitrarily small to hide objects that are much larger than the wavelength. With the use of modern metamaterials, practical demonstrations of such devices may be possible. The method developed here can also be applied to escape detection by other electromagnetic waves or sound.

This paper addresses the 2D and 3D micro- and nanofabrication of ElectroMagnetic MetaMaterials (EM3) for the terahertz range. EM3 refers to artifbial composite materials which consist of a collection of repeated metal elements designed to have a strong response to applied electromagnetic felds, so that near resonance both the effective permittivity and magnetic permeability µ become simultaneously negative. This unusual situation leads to exotic consequences such as a negative index of refraction and an inverse Doppler and Cerenkov effect. EM3 fabricated so far have been mostly two-dimensional and in this respect are highly anisotropic. By anisotropic, it is inferred that the response of the system depends on the direction of illumination. The anisotropic nature of the metamaterials impedes eventual real-life applications of the negative media as it places constraints on the impinging electromagnetic waves. Ways of producing three-dimensional (3D) or more isotropic EM3 by means of tilted x-ray exposures will be introduced. Basic geometry tells us that if the structures are inclined at 30-45°, this would lead to an improvement of the coupling of the vector by 50-70%

In this paper, we summarize some recent activities in the field of metamaterial research at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Integral equations are applied for electromagnetic modelling of supernatural materials. Some special characteristics of the metamaterials are shown. Moreover, quasi-static Lorentz theory and numerical method (i.e., the method of moments for solving the electric field integral equation) and the transmission line theory are both presented to obtain the effective constitutive relations of metamaterials, respectively. Finally, feasibility of fabricating metamaterials based on analysis of equivalent transmission line model in the microwave spectrum and even higher is also shown and correspondingly some broad-bandwidth and low-loss metamaterial structures are designed and synthesized.

Cataloged from PDF version of article. We report free space transmission and the first reflection measurements of a composite double negative (DNG) metamaterial, also known as a left-handed material (LHM). The metamaterial composes of the split-ring-resonators and discontinuous thin wires. Very high transmission values of the metamaterial are observed within a frequency range for which both effective permeability and permittivity are expected to be negative.

Limitation of the cloak-size reduction is investigated numerically by a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method. A metallic pole that imitates an antenna is cloaked with an anisotropic and parameter-gradient medium against electromagnetic-wave propagation in microwave range. The cloaking structure is a metamaterial submerged in a plasma confined in a vacuum chamber made of glass. The smooth-permittivity plasma can be compressed in the radial direction, which enables us to decrease the size of the cloak. Theoretical analysis is performed numerically by comparing scattering waves in various cases; there exists a high reduction of the scattering wave when the radius of the cloak is larger than a quarter of one wavelength. This result indicates that the required size of the cloaking layer is more than an object scale in the Rayleigh scattering regime.

The composite nature of metamaterial structures, made up of metallic and dielectric parts, repeated and modulated in a certain order in the space, increases the numerical complexity of electromagnetic analysis: homogenizing such structures with a continuous dielectric model that achieves the same global electromagnetic response could be challenging, but it could give more information about the physical mechanism of wave propagation through it. The idea developed in this paper is to associate an equivalent permittivity to a novel metamaterial architecture (i.e. the microstrip-line-based metamaterial), solving an Inverse Scattering Problem (ISP). The expected global electromagnetic response involves the cloaking effect, artificially created by the radiation of surface waves propagating around the periodic structure. In the proposed Inverse Scattering Homogenization method (ISHM), the equivalent permittivity results exhibit values between zero and one, further tested in a Forward Scattering Problem (FSP), in order to establish a one-to-one correspondance between heterogeneous (physical) and homogeneous (mathematical) model.

International audience; We propose a broadband measurement method for measuring the electromagnetic (EM) properties of metamaterials in the 1-6 GHz frequency range. For this experimental technique, an original adjustable height strip transmission-line was developed that makes it possible to characterize metamaterials with different volumes and different numbers of unit cells. Therefore, it was possible to assess the influence of the number of unit cells in a sample on the measured constitutive parameters (complex permittivity and permeability). This study enabled us to define the criterion of the representative elementary number of cells. This criterion must be satisfied in practice in order to determine the microwave behavior for the sample under test in as close as possible to an infinite medium, whose EM properties can only be determined from simulations. Experimental and theoretical results for split ring resonator-type metamaterials are presented, compared, and discussed.

Functional optical metamaterials usually consist of absorbing, anisotropic and often non-centrosymmetric structures of a size that is only a few times smaller than the wavelength of visible light. If the structures would be substantially smaller, excitation of higher-order electromagnetic multipoles in them, including magnetic dipoles, would be inefficient. As a result, the material would act as an ordinary electric-dipole material. The required non-negligible size of metamolecules, however, makes the material spatially dispersive, so that its optical characteristics depend on light propagation direction. This phenomenon significantly complicates the description of metamaterials in terms of conventional electric permittivity and magnetic permeability tensors. In this work, we present a simple semianalytical method to describe such spatially dispersive metamaterials, which are also allowed to be optically anisotropic and non-centrosymmetric. Applying the method, we show that a strong spatial dispersion, combined with absorption and optical anisotropy, can be used to efficiently control propagational characteristics of optical beams.

By exploring the relationship between the propagation of electromagnetic waves in a gravitational field and the light propagation in a refractive medium, it is shown that, in the presence of a positive cosmological constant, the velocity of light will be smaller than its special relativity value. Then, restricting again to the domain of validity of geometrical optics, the same result is obtained in the context of wave optics. It is argued that this phenomenon and the anisotropy in the velocity of light in a gravitational field are produced by the same mechanism.

We study the electromagnetic field radiated by high-frequency electric currents in infinite conducting cylinders, with longitudinal or solenoidal flows. We show that the behavior of the radiated fields is very different for radiofrequencies and for higher frequencies. When ωa/c is large (where a is the cylinder radius), the radiated power varies very rapidly as a function of the frequency and is almost zero for certain values.

We show that microstructures built from nonmagnetic conducting sheets exhibit an effective magnetic permeability /spl mu//sub eff/, which can be tuned to values not accessible in naturally occurring materials, including large imaginary components of /spl mu//sub eff/. The microstructure is on a scale much less than the wavelength of radiation, is not resolved by incident microwaves, and uses a very low density of metal so that structures can be extremely lightweight. Most of the structures are resonant due to internal capacitance and inductance, and resonant enhancement combined with compression of electrical energy into a very small volume greatly enhances the energy density at critical locations in the structure, easily by factors of a million and possibly by much more. Weakly nonlinear materials placed at these critical locations will show greatly enhanced effects raising the possibility of manufacturing active structures whose properties can be switched at will between many states.

WOS:000347171300050 (Nº de Acesso Web of Science) One of the intriguing potentials of metamaterials is the possibility to realize a nonlocal electromagnetic reaction, such that the effective medium response at a given point is fundamentally entangled with the macroscopic field distribution at long distances. Here, it is experimentally and numerically verified that a microwave nonlocal metamaterial formed by crossed metallic wires enables a low-loss broadband anomalous material response such that the refractive index decreases with frequency. Notably, it is shown that an electromagnetic beam refracted by our metamaterial prism creates a reversed microwave rainbow.

Transmission and reflection properties, anisotropy, chirality, optical nonlinearity and luminescent of metamaterials can be controlled at will using dynamic nanostructures reconfigurable with electromagnetic forces or by exploiting structured illumination with coherent light.

We report our recent achievements in tuning metamaterials with light. We introduce a novel approach to design metamaterials with sign-varying nonlinear response. For this purpose, we use split-ring resonators loaded by photodiodes and varactor diodes. A non-monotonic frequency shift of the resonance frequency depending on incident microwave power is demonstrated. Finally, we show how the nonlinear response of photosensitive metamaterials can be directly controlled by light coupling. © 2013 IEEE.

Optical cloaking has been one of unattainable dreams and just a subject in fiction until recently. Several different approaches to cloaking have been proposed and demonstrated: stealth technology, active camouflage and transformation optics. The last one would be the most formal approach modifying electromagnetic field around an object to be cloaked with metamaterials. While cloaking based on transformation optics, though valid only at single frequency, is experimentally demonstrated in microwave region, its operation in visible spectrum is still distant from realisation mainly owing to difficulty in fabricating metamaterial structure whose elements are much smaller than wavelength of light. Here we show that achromatic optical cloaking in visible spectrum is possible with the mere principle based on geometrical optics. In combining a pair of polarising beam splitters and right-angled prisms, rays of light to be obstructed by an object can make a detour to an observer, while unobstructed rays go straight through two polarising beam splitters. What is observed eventually through the device is simply background image as if nothing exists in between.

Metamaterials, artificial electromagnetic media realized by subwavelength nano-structuring, have become a paradigm for engineering electromagnetic space, allowing for independent control of both electric and magnetic responses of the material. Whereas most metamaterials studied so far are limited to passive structures, the need for active metamaterials is rapidly growing. However, the fundamental question on how the energy of emitters is distributed between both (electric and magnetic) interaction channels of the metamaterial still remains open. Here we study simultaneous spontaneous emission of quantum dots into both of these channels and define the control parameters for tailoring the quantum-dot coupling to metamaterials. By superimposing two orthogonal modes of equal strength at the wavelength of quantum-dot photoluminescence, we demonstrate a sharp difference in their interaction with the magnetic and electric metamaterial modes. Our observations reveal the importance of mode engineering for spontaneous emission control in metamaterials, paving a way towards loss-compensated metamaterials and metamaterial nanolasers.

It is shown analytically that in the regime of full transmission in the interaction of a plane linearly polarized electromagnetic wave with a layer of a metamaterial the thickness of the layer is equal to an integer number of half wavelengths in the material layer. Numerical simulation of the metamaterial layer consisting of helices wound in different directions showed that with the chosen size of helices and their relative positions the metamaterial layer reflects the incident wave of the frequency f = 2 GHz fully while a wave with the frequency f = 2,8 GHz passes through the layer without reflection. At the frequency f = 2,39 GHz the structure deflects the incident wave mostly in the upper halfspace. The simulation also showed that at the selected orientation of helices relative to the direction of propagation and polarization of the incident wave the structure exhibits anisotropic and magnetic properties similar to those of SRR-structures. Based on this and using the properties of the halfwave layer the relative permeability of the metamaterial layer was estimated.

Computer modeling of electromagnetic waves provides numerical data that can be used for dynamic visualization of electromagnetic phenomena via the computer screen. The Electromagnetic Wave Simulator is a commercial software package which uses the transmission line matrix method to represent electromagnetic fields. This software can be applied effectively in teaching and understanding optics where phenomena such as reflection, refraction, total internal reflection, interference between two coherent beams, and the confinement of light in a waveguide can be demonstrated through computer-generated display of the electromagnetic wave. A student may make simple changes to the program, such as the value of the refractive index at an interface, and "see", i.e. visualize the effect on the light propagation. The computer animation which the authors have produced is illustrated here with selected frames together with a description of the optical behavior being simulated.

International audience; An experimental characterization technique for determining the electromagnetic properties of metamaterials in the microwave frequency band is presented. The method consists in measuring the S-parameters of an asymmetrical stripline partially filled with the sample to be characterized. For retrieving the characteristic parameters, two different approaches based on quasi-static approximations are compared. This measurement cell allows an "in situ" characterization because it reproduces the electromagnetic environment frequently found in planar technologies for microwave applications of metamaterials. The whole sample is uniformly excited in magnitude and direction by the interacting electromagnetic field which guarantees representativeness of extracted permittivity and permeability and avoids possible inconsistencies due to anisotropy and heterogeneity of metamaterials.

In this paper a multi-layered structure containing metamaterial is investigated theoretically and numerically. Low reflection and high absorption of electromagnetic waves by the structure are demonstrated at specified frequencies. In the theory, the required equations for the electric and magnetic fields of the incident waves are given in detail. Expressions for the overall reflection and absorption powers of the structure are given in terms of Fresnel coefficients. In the numerical results, the mentioned powers are computed and illustrated as a function of frequency, angle of incidence and metamaterial thickness. The proposed structure could be advantageously used in solar cells.

The ability to render objects invisible with a cloak that fits all objects and sizes is a long-standing goal for optical devices. Invisibility devices demonstrated so far typically comprise a rigid structure wrapped around an object to which it is fitted. Here we demonstrate smart metamaterial cloaking, wherein the metamaterial device not only transforms electromagnetic fields to make an object invisible, but also acquires its properties automatically from its own elastic deformation. The demonstrated device is a ground-plane microwave cloak composed of an elastic metamaterial with a broad operational band (10-12 GHz) and nearly lossless electromagnetic properties. The metamaterial is uniform, or perfectly periodic, in its undeformed state and acquires the necessary gradient-index profile, mimicking a quasi-conformal transformation, naturally from a boundary load. This easy-to-fabricate hybrid elasto-electromagnetic metamaterial opens the door to implementations of a variety of transformation optics devices based on quasi-conformal maps.

We present the first dual-band negative index metamaterial that operates in the visible spectrum. The optimized four-functional-layer metamaterial structure exhibits the first double-negative (i.e., simultaneously negative permittivity and permeability) band in the red region of the visible spectrum with a figure of merit of 1.7 and the second double-negative band in the green region of the visible spectrum with a figure of merit of 3.2. The optical behavior of the proposed structure is independent of the polarization of the incident field. This low-loss metamaterial structure can be treated as a modified version of a fishnet metamaterial structure with an additional metal layer of different thickness in a single functional layer. The additional metal layer extends the diluted plasma frequency deep into the visible spectrum above the second order magnetic resonance of the structure, hence provides a dual band operation with simultaneously negative effective permittivity and permeability. Broadband metamaterials with multiple negative index bands may be possible with the same technique by employing higher order magnetic resonances. The structure can be fabricated with standard microfabrication techniques that have been used to fabricate fishnet metamaterial structures., Comment: 26 Pages, 6 Figures, 2 Tables, 2 Media