3D Volumetric Reconfigurable Active Metamaterials (VRaMM)

塑造和引导电磁场的能力是工程和科学研究的一个重要领域。在成像方面，它可用于增强和聚焦领域，例如医学成像或国土安全。在无线系统中，例如无线电力传输，它可以用来提高效率，保护人类和免受外来物体的干扰。在通信中，它可以用来调制、引导、限制和以其他方式操纵携带无线电信号的数据的传播。为了实现这一目标，科学家们通常依靠具有所需电性能（介电常数）和磁性能（磁导率）的天然材料来形成所需的磁场。不幸的是，这限制了现有材料的现场成型的可用选项和应用。人工设计具有目标介电常数和磁导率的材料的能力为可以进行的影响和科学研究提供了重要的维度。这项研究将研究一类被称为活性超材料的新型人工材料。活性超材料具有宏观特性，如介电常数和磁导率，可以通过设计微尺度的电子电路和结构来设计。从历史上看，这些都是被动的，包括损失和不必要的操作模式。这项研究将探索设计和开发活性超材料的新概念，这将能够消除或减轻损失和不必要的操作模式。过去对活性超材料的研究面临着稳定性、可调性和规模等重大问题。一种具有微波增益的大规模、稳定的活性超材料尚未被证实。本研究将研究提供增益补偿、稳定性和可扩展性到100-1000微尺度单元的电路和结构，以实现宏观尺度、活性和可重构的人造材料。PI将利用教育研讨会继续向社区介绍微波工程，并在未来的研讨会中整合超材料和电磁学的思想。PI计划让本科生研究人员与研究生研究人员一起研究拟议的项目。PI的推广工作还包括在当地小学举办关于数学和机器人的客座讲座，并与国家科学博物馆（富兰克林研究所、卡内基科学博物馆等）合作，向从小学到高中的各级学生展示工程和科学概念。本研究提出了基于活性超材料单元的三维体积可重构超材料的设计与开发，利用主动协同对新型电磁材料进行稳定化、程序化和重构。这些材料将是完全可编程的，并且能够实现转换电磁学所设想的先进应用所需的各种非均匀和各向异性特性。这些新材料将通过新的研究来实现，解决自身和细胞间耦合、大规模系统的稳定性以及通过主动抵消来减轻不必要的寄生模式的主要挑战。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The ability to shape and direct electromagnetic fields provides an important area of investigation in engineering and science. In imaging, it can be used to enhance and focus fields, for example in medical imaging or homeland security. In wireless systems, such as wireless power transfer, it can be used to enhance efficiency, protect humans and interference from foreign objects. In communication it can be used to modulate, steer, confine and otherwise manipulate the propagation of data carrying radio signals. To achieve this, scientists have often relied on natural materials with the desired electrical properties (permittivity) and magnetic properties (permeability) needed to shape the fields as desired. Unfortunately, this limits the available options and applications for field shaping to existing materials. The ability to artificially engineer a material with targeted permittivity and permeability provides an important dimension to the impact and scientific investigations that can be undertaken.This research will investigate a new class of artificial materials called active metamaterials. Active metamaterials have macroscale properties, such as permittivity and permeability, that can be engineered through the design of microscale electronic circuits and structures. Historically these have been passive, which include loss and unwanted modes of operation. This research will investigate new concepts to design and develop active metamaterials, that will be able to remove or mitigate loss and unwanted modes of operation. Past attempts on active metamaterial research faced significant problems with stability, tunability and scale. A large scale and stable active metamaterial with gain in the microwave domain has not yet been demonstrated. This research will investigate circuits and structures for providing gain compensation, stability, and scalability to 100-1000 of microscale cells in order to realize a macroscale, active and reconfigurable artificial material.The PI will use educational workshops to continue to introduce microwave engineering to the community and integrate the ideas of metamaterials and electromagnetics in future workshops. The PI plans to involve undergraduate student researchers to work alongside with graduate student researchers on the proposed project. The PI’s outreach efforts also include guest lectures on mathematics and robotics to local elementary schools and engagement with national science museums (Franklin Institute, Carnegie Science Museum, etc.), demonstrating engineering and science concepts to students at all levels, from elementary to high school.In this research the design and development of 3D volumetric reconfigurable metamaterials are proposed which are based on active metamaterial elements which uses active collaboration to stabilize, program and reconfigure new electromagnetic materials. These materials will be fully programable and able to achieve diverse inhomogeneous and anisotropic properties needed for advanced applications envisioned by transformational electromagnetics. These new materials will be realized through new research in solving the major challenges of self- and inter-cell coupling, stability of large-scale systems and mitigation of unwanted parasitic modes through active cancellation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.