Other metamaterials allow light to travel one way but not the opposite-a valuable tool for communication and detection of objects-and to break symmetries of geometry and time. Although these inventions have limitations-they aren’t quite the Harry Potter–style invisibility cloaks that many people imagine-they nonetheless interact with light in a way that seems like magic.Ĭloaks are just one example of metamaterial technology. Several research teams around the world, including mine, have designed and produced metamaterial coatings that can redirect light waves that hit them, effectively preventing light from bouncing off the object and reaching our eyes and even from leaving shadows. The marquee example of this new style of materials is the “invisibility cloak”-a metamaterial coating that can hide an object in plain sight. The Greek prefix meta means “beyond.” These engineered materials let us move beyond the traditional ways in which waves and matter interact, creating technologies where light and sound appear to disobey conventional rules. And in the past few years there has been a revolution in our ability to control these waves using materials, engineered at the nanoscale, known as metamaterials. Remarkably, all these different waves are governed largely by the same fundamental physical principles. Electromagnetic waves bring radio, television and endless streaming content to our devices. Light waves stimulate the retinas of our eyes. Tiny vibrational waves transport sound to our ears.
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