Metamaterials Commercialization Center

Metamaterials are an innovative means of precisely controlling electromagnetic or acoustic waves.

Metamaterials are materials whose electromagnetic or acoustic properties arise from their internal structure rather than just the matter of which they are composed. Just as each individual molecule of a material affects how waves interact with it, it is possible to engineer small discrete shapes called unit cells into the material that have the effect of tailoring its properties to suit specific needs. So long as these unit cells are sufficiently small compared to the wavelength of the signal, they appear to the signal as a continuous surface. Before the advent of metamaterials, wave propagation through a medium was thought of as a static property of that substance, similar to hardness or color. The importance of metamaterials is that they allow engineers to manipulate wave propagation by arranging the unit cells in different ways, and by either mechanically or electrically tuning each unit cell on command. By changing the electrical or mechanical characteristics of each individual element, the properties of the material as a whole can be effectively controlled to a high degree of precision. To give an example, although gold is a good conductor and reflects yellow light, one could design a metamaterial out of gold that was an insulator and appears red in color.