Researchers Design Fabricated Metamaterial Nanostructure
Published on March 29, 2013 at 5:38 AM   A photograph of the
fabricated free-standing metamaterial filter thin-film mounted
on an optical frame. Credit: Penn State  Metamaterials are
manufactured materials that derive their unusual properties from
structure rather than only composition, and possess exotic
properties not usually found in nature. Nanostructured
metamaterials appear different for signals of different
frequencies. They are dispersive, so that if researchers
manipulate this material dispersion, they gain a comprehensive
control of the device performance across a band of frequencies.
In the past, to control the optics of metamaterials, researchers
used complicated structures including 3-dimensional rings and
spirals that are difficult if not impossible to manufacture in
large numbers and small sizes at optical wavelengths. From a
practical perspective, simple and manufacturable nanostructures
are necessary for creating high-performance devi