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Metamaterials

Prime time

Nature Materials volume 15, pages 1229–1231 (2016)Cite this article

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In the past decade, artificial materials with unusual wave interactions have significantly evolved and matured. In honour of the tenth anniversary of the premiere metamaterials conference, we look at the directions in which this field is evolving, and its impact on technology.

In September, at the International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics (Metamaterials 2016) in Chania, Crete, we celebrated the tenth anniversary of the premiere conference focusing on this field of research. The conference traditionally brings together hundreds of scientists from a variety of fields of interest and different research communities. One of the most relevant moments of the conference was a plenary session on the history of metamaterials and the future directions of this field of research, in which a few pioneering leaders discussed the journey of this technology, its recent evolution into a diverse and vibrant community, and their take on the future steps.

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Figure 1: Examples of electromagnetic metamaterials whose bulk properties emerge from their complex microstructure design.
Figure 2: Examples of active, mechanically moving, or largely nonlinear metamaterial devices.

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  1. Andrea Alù is in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, USA,

    Andrea Alù

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  1. Andrea Alù
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Correspondence to Andrea Alù.

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Alù, A. Prime time. Nature Mater 15, 1229–1231 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4814

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