Home > Press > Electrical signals dictate optical properties
Abstract:
Researchers at the University of Southampton's Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) have created an artificial material, a metamaterial, with optical properties that can be controlled by electric signals.
Electrical signals dictate optical properties
Southampton, UK | Posted on March 19th, 2013Photonic metamaterials are artificial materials created by precise and extremely fine structuring of conventional media using nanotechnology. They offer numerous new applications from cloaking to radically improved solar cells. However, the properties of metamaterials are usually fixed.
Dr Eric Plum, Research Lecturer at the ORC, explains: "We have found a fast and reliable way of coordinating the motion of thousands of metamaterial building blocks. We shift them by distances smaller than the diameter of a human hair. These minute rearrangements are sufficient to radically change the transmission and reflection characteristics of the metamaterial. We do this by engaging the same force that sticks a small piece of paper to a comb after brushing. In essence, we dictate the movement of metamaterial building blocks with electrical signals, and we can do this very fast."
Seen as an enabling technology of the future, metamaterials research has grown rapidly in the past decade. The University's Centre for Photonic Metamaterials is supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and is at the forefront of this development. Director of the Centre Professor Nikolay Zheludev says: "Thanks to nanotechnology we need not depend only on natural materials; we can now engineer optical properties and change them at will. Light-enabled technologies are vital to the 21st century and photonic metamaterials will have a broad impact."
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
Glenn Harris
G.Harris@soton.ac.uk
44-023-805-93212
Copyright © University of Southampton
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
| Related Links |
This work is now published in Nature Nanotechnology. To read the full article visit:
For an overview of metamaterials research at the University of Southampton see:
| Related News Press |
News and information
Enhancing power factor of p- and n-type single-walled carbon nanotubes April 25th, 2025
Tumor microenvironment dynamics: the regulatory influence of long non-coding RNAs April 25th, 2025
Ultrafast plasmon-enhanced magnetic bit switching at the nanoscale April 25th, 2025
Discoveries
Lattice-driven charge density wave fluctuations far above the transition temperature in Kagome superconductor April 25th, 2025
HKU physicists uncover hidden order in the quantum world through deconfined quantum critical points April 25th, 2025
Nanophotonic platform boosts efficiency of nonlinear-optical quantum teleportation April 25th, 2025
Materials/Metamaterials/Magnetoresistance
Enhancing power factor of p- and n-type single-walled carbon nanotubes April 25th, 2025
Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025
Enhancing transverse thermoelectric conversion performance in magnetic materials with tilted structural design: A new approach to developing practical thermoelectric technologies December 13th, 2024
Announcements
Enhancing power factor of p- and n-type single-walled carbon nanotubes April 25th, 2025
Tumor microenvironment dynamics: the regulatory influence of long non-coding RNAs April 25th, 2025
Ultrafast plasmon-enhanced magnetic bit switching at the nanoscale April 25th, 2025
Interviews/Book Reviews/Essays/Reports/Podcasts/Journals/White papers/Posters
Nanophotonic platform boosts efficiency of nonlinear-optical quantum teleportation April 25th, 2025
Enhancing power factor of p- and n-type single-walled carbon nanotubes April 25th, 2025
Military
Quantum engineers ‘squeeze’ laser frequency combs to make more sensitive gas sensors January 17th, 2025
Chainmail-like material could be the future of armor: First 2D mechanically interlocked polymer exhibits exceptional flexibility and strength January 17th, 2025
Single atoms show their true color July 5th, 2024
NRL charters Navy’s quantum inertial navigation path to reduce drift April 5th, 2024
Energy
KAIST researchers introduce new and improved, next-generation perovskite solar cell November 8th, 2024
Unveiling the power of hot carriers in plasmonic nanostructures August 16th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Photonics/Optics/Lasers
Nanophotonic platform boosts efficiency of nonlinear-optical quantum teleportation April 25th, 2025
Bringing the power of tabletop precision lasers for quantum science to the chip scale December 13th, 2024
Researchers succeed in controlling quantum states in a new energy range December 13th, 2024
Groundbreaking research unveils unified theory for optical singularities in photonic microstructures December 13th, 2024
Solar/Photovoltaic
KAIST researchers introduce new and improved, next-generation perovskite solar cell November 8th, 2024
Groundbreaking precision in single-molecule optoelectronics August 16th, 2024
Development of zinc oxide nanopagoda array photoelectrode: photoelectrochemical water-splitting hydrogen production January 12th, 2024
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide November 17th, 2023
 |
||
 |
||
| The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
 |
||
|
|
||
| Premium Products | ||
 |
||
|
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
 |
||
|
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||
|
|
||