Metamaterials: Challenges and opportunities

The field of metamaterials is only a dozen years old, yet the discovery of new phenomena and applications within the field are burgeoning: lenses that focus subdiffractive images with infinite depth of focus, materials through which acoustic or electromagnetic waves travel “backward,” invisibility cloaks, materials through which electromagnetic waves “tunnel”, materials with macroscopic quantum effects, “perfect” absorbers, exquisitely sensitive detectors and sensors, plasmonic catalysts, materials with diamagnetic response at visible frequencies, chiral sensors, and acoustics devices are a few examples, with the promise of many more in the future. The field has impressive growth potential, but problems in fabricating the materials inhibit the development of both applications and the fundamental science. In this talk the state of the art of the Metamaterials field is discussed, highlighting the present nanoand microfabrication approaches and outlining both outstanding challenges and opportunities.