Windows on Metamaterials -Tweets, Institute of Physics-Physics World , Institute of Materials (IOM3) Materials World

Record-breaking metamaterial
Researchers in Korea have created a new metamaterial  -Physics World.
A recent follower of my blog posts on twitter reminded me that I have neglected the relatively recent materials science-solid state physics & condensed matter field of Metamaterials, which have caught the public imagination as possible roads to invisibility and stealth (the invisible cloak - Metamaterial Cloaking link-wikipedia)

Thanks to my follower's tweets I rapidly zoomed in and chose the link to recent research in the Metamaterial Field, in fact Physics Today the Popular Journal of the Institute of Physics UK,

The tweeted page Feb 2011 is the eye catching Metamaterials breaks refraction record.

"The refractive index of a material defines the angle through which light is bent when it travels between a material and the vacuum. Ordinary materials such as glass have refractive indices between one and three at optical frequencies, with a few materials like silicon approaching four. Over the past decade or so, physicists have been developing artificial materials with negative indices of refraction. These metamaterials bend light in the opposite direction to normal materials and can be used to make invisibility cloaks and superlenses.


While this new material has a positive index of refraction, its value is so large that it could lead to new terahertz technologies for security scanning and cancer diagnosis. The researchers also believe that the metamaterial could find use in invisibility cloaks."

Terahertz frequencies have potential in security checkpoints and skin cancer diagnosis.

Each article allows the reader to increase his learning experience by providing several related stories (typical of the professional scientific magazines) By choosing any of the related articles cf below will often open many more related articles.

Physics World related articles:
Negative-index material modulates light
Double-negative metamaterial edges towards the visible
Flexible metamaterial springs to life
Terahertz scanning acquires sense of direction


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The Year 2008 in Materials from MIT's Tech Review

The Institute of Physics is a sister of our Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) often referenced here. Both are UK scientific and professional bodies. Articles in Materials World are referenced below.
References:
History and Introduction to Metamaterials, Physics Today by JB Pendry & DR Smith

Overview - Scope of Metamaterials from Wikipedia

Materials World (MW): IOM3 references

3d-metamaterials-semiconductors

Metamaterials for magnifying superlenses


Unweaving-rainbow-Jack-Harris-muses-transparent-materials-and-refractive-indexes

Stealth-technology-ships__Access to Members only

Making light work silicon chips

MW Book Reviews
Electrical-properties-materials, Book Review

Optical-properties-solids-book review