FUNDAMENTALS AND APPLICATIONS OF METAMATERIALS AND RELATED STRUCTURES

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Metamaterials is an emerging field which offers great opportunities for discovering new physical phenomena and for exploiting them in several application disciplines. Electromagnetic metamaterials in particular are artificially structured media with unusual electromagnetic properties, such as a negative index of refraction. Typically, they comprise an arrangement of sub-wavelength metallo-dielectric inclusions which can be macroscopically homogenized using permittivity and permeability tensors. The scientific excitement surrounding metamaterials can be crystallized by asking the question: What would be possible if we were able to synthesize materials with user-defined electromagnetic parameters? In this proposal, we are describing a program to tackle some aspects of this fundamental question with a long term aim at utilizing the corresponding materials for several groundbreaking microwave and optical applications. The main emphasis will be placed to the microwave regime but some activities will be devoted to the optical regime as well. Related structures that are inspired by metamaterials (in the sense that they can perform some of the functions of metamaterials but cannot be strictly described by effective material tensors) will also be considered. Envisioned application areas of these metamaterials and their related structures include sub-wavelength imaging and sensing (e.g. for medical/biological applications), compact and multifunctional antennas for wireless telecommunications, super-resolution radars and sensors, efficient wireless power transfer (e.g. for 'charging' up the cars of the future), medical therapeutics (e.g. for hyperthermia), defense, RF/optical instrumentation and high-speed digital interconnects.