Phase II I/UCRC U. of North Carolina at Charlotte Site: Center for Metamaterials (CfM)

超材料中心(CFM)通过北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校、克拉克森大学及其许多工业和政府成员的合作，为超材料的研究和开发提供一站式商店。超材料是一种人造或工程材料，具有自然界中不存在的显著特性。CFM的重点主要是超材料的光学、红外和雷达应用，以及它们允许控制光流动和复杂的光过滤和检测的新方法。例如，用于能源生产的光收集系统的性能改进，以及用于宽带通信的更小、更高性能天线的设计。CFM与成员密切合作，解决有关具有定制特性的超材料的设计和制造的基本问题和竞争前问题。基本问题包括如何使辐射与构成超材料的超原子发生更强的相互作用。正是这些相互作用导致了工程设计的新方法，以改进从成像传感器到改进散热器的各种技术。在CFM内进行的项目是与行业咨询委员会(IAB)合作开发的，该委员会决定了超材料解决方案的可行性，以实现更小、更好、更低成本和更高性能的产品，用于商业和国防部署。全球超材料市场正在快速增长，通过CFM，成员们保持着对许多新兴技术机会的时效性和竞争力。此外，所有项目都是由每个站点的一群学生进行的，其中几个学生来自科学界代表性不足的群体。学生的项目通常包含在他们的论文中，并作为实习生与成员密切合作，使他们在毕业后能够很好地就业。CFM在UNCC和Clarkson的教职员工和学生与IAB成员携手合作，开发新知识、新材料的能力和软件工具。由我们的成员开发的技术路线图为将项目目标集中到更具体的目标提供了一个框架。为了确保该中心的长期成功和生存能力，我们专注于影响广泛行业的研究。CFM的目标是更好地了解和利用与结构化材料相关的新属性，发布和生成与新组件和设备相关的知识产权。在CFM中，有许多基础性的科学问题需要解决，这些问题涉及理解和模拟当波与亚波长结构相互作用时发生的物理过程。共振行为与有效的介质描述相结合可以预测不寻常的材料性质，如负折射率。利用亚波长元件、表面图案和复合材料中的共振行为，都需要更完整的描述和对场-物质相互作用的更深层次的理解。在纳米尺度上，许多新的现象正在被揭示，这些现象已经成熟，可以进行技术进步了。CFM的丰富资源非常适合于解决与推进超材料应用和填补技术空白相关的一系列挑战。北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校有一个跨学科的教职员工团队参与CFM。它还拥有一流的光学、微波和微/纳米加工设施，用户设施设在其光电子和光通信中心，以支持CFM项目。CFM资助的研究生来自几个研究生项目，包括光学科学与工程(OSE)、EE、ME和纳米科学(NS)。展望未来，我们计划包括医疗和声学超材料，同时保留主要与传感、成像、天线和能量收集相关的CFM品牌。

The Center for Metamaterials (CfM) provides a one-stop-shop for research and development of metamaterials with collaborations between UNC Charlotte, Clarkson University and its many industrial and government members. Metamaterials are man-made or engineered materials having remarkable properties that do not occur in nature. The focus of the CfM is primarily on optical, infrared and radar applications of metamaterials and the new ways in which they permit to control the flow of light and sophisticated filtering and detection of light. Examples include improved performance of light harvesting systems for energy production and designs for smaller higher performance antennas for broadband communications. The CfM works closely with members to address fundamental and precompetitive questions regarding the design and fabrication of metamaterials with customized properties. Fundamental questions include how radiation can be made to interact more strongly with the meta-atoms that compose the metamaterial. It is these interactions that lead to new approaches for engineering designs for improved technologies ranging from imaging sensors to improved heat sinks. The projects conducted within the CfM are developed collaboratively with the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) deciding on the viability of metamaterials solutions for achieving smaller, better, lower-cost and higher performance products for both commercial and defense deployment. The global metamaterials market sector is growing fast and through the CfM, members remain current and competitive on the many emerging technology opportunities. In addition, all projects are conducted by a cohort of students on each site, several from under- represented groups in science. Students' projects typically fold into their dissertations and work closely with members as interns making them well-positioned for employment after graduation. The CfM's faculty and students at UNCC and Clarkson to work hand-in-hand with IAB members to develop new knowledge, new materials' capabilities and software tools. The technology roadmap, developed by our members, provides a framework for the clustering of project objectives into more specific goals. To ensure the long-term success and viability of the Center, we focus on research that impacts a broad range of industries. CfM goals are to better understand and exploit new properties associated with structured materials, publish and generate IP related to new components and devices. Within the CfM there are many foundational scientific questions to be addressed, concerning understanding and modeling the physical processes that occur when waves interact with subwavelength sized structures. Resonant behavior combined with effective medium descriptions can predict unusual material properties, such as negative refractive index. Exploiting resonant behavior in subwavelength elements, surface patterns and composites, all demand more complete descriptions and a deeper understanding of field-matter interactions. At the nanoscale many new phenomena are being unveiled that are ripe for technological advances. The rich resources of the CfM are well suited to address the tiers of challenges associated with advancing metamaterial applications and filling technology gaps. UNC Charlotte has an interdisciplinary team of faculty participating in the CfM. It also has excellent optical, microwave and micro/nanofabrication facilities user facilities housed in its Center for Optoelectronics and Optical Communications to support CfM projects. CfM supported graduate students are drawn from several graduate programs including Optical Science and Engineering (OSE), EE, ME and Nanoscale Sciences (NS). Moving forward, we plan to include medical and acoustic metamaterials while retaining a brand for the CfM primarily tied to sensing, imaging, antennas and energy harvesting.