Article | REF: AF3713 V2

Electromagnetical and Optical Metamaterials

Author: André DE LUSTRAC

Publication date: July 10, 2016, Review date: March 11, 2021

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


Overview

Français

ABSTRACT

This paper presents the principle and the main properties of electromagnetic and optical metamaterials. The main physical properties are listed, with, in particular, the concept of negative refractive index, and of "left handed" materials. The concept of metasurface, derived simultaneously from frequency selective surfaces and from metamaterials, is also introduced. Some examples of applications of metamaterials and metasurfaces are presented in the microwave domain but also in optics. These examples, far from being exhaustive, demonstrate the wide range of potential applications of these materials.

Read this article from a comprehensive knowledge base, updated and supplemented with articles reviewed by scientific committees.

Read the article

AUTHOR

  • André DE LUSTRAC: Professor - Director, Institut d'Électronique Fondamentale - Institut d'Électronique Fondamentale, Université Paris Sud, Orsay, France Université Paris Ouest, Ville d'Avray, France

 INTRODUCTION

Metamaterials, as their name suggests, are artificial materials with physical properties superior to those of natural materials. "Meta" is a Greek prefix meaning "beyond" or "a level above", as in metaphysical or metalogical.

Metamaterials are therefore materials with properties "beyond" what we can expect to observe in natural materials. This concept can be applied to all areas of physics. More specifically, in electromagnetism and optics, metamaterials present new properties likely to excite the imagination of researchers and engineers, such as a negative optical index or an inverted Doppler effect, for example. But we'll see later that a metamaterial doesn't always have a negative optical index. It may have only negative permittivity or permeability. It may only be magnetic, but at optical frequencies. It can also have an optical index of zero. But we'll also see that the concept of metamaterial is actually a very old one, since the first metamaterials were colored optical glasses found in Roman times, and in cathedrals where they were used to create magnificent stained-glass windows.

You do not have access to this resource.

Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!


The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference

A Comprehensive Knowledge Base, with over 1,200 authors and 100 scientific advisors
+ More than 10,000 articles and 1,000 how-to sheets, over 800 new or updated articles every year
From design to prototyping, right through to industrialization, the reference for securing the development of your industrial projects

KEYWORDS

microwave   |   electromagnetic compatibility   |   metamaterials   |   left handed materials


This article is included in

Optics and photonics

This offer includes:

Knowledge Base

Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees

Services

A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources

Practical Path

Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills

Doc & Quiz

Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading

Subscribe now!

Ongoing reading
Electromagnetic and optical metamaterials