Tunable metamaterial zips 'terahertz gap'
Boston, April 17, 2008 U.S. scientists say they've created a unique metamaterial that can be tuned over a range of frequencies in the so-called "terahertz gap." The team of researchers from Boston College, the Los Alamos National Laboratory and Boston University said they incorporated semiconducting materials in critical regions of tiny metallic split-ring resonators that interact with light in order to tune metamaterials beyond their fixed point on the electromagnetic spectrum. The researchers said their landmark achievement opens such devices to a broader array of uses. "Metamaterials no longer need to be constructed only out of metallic components," said Boston College Physicist Willie Padilla, the project leader. "What we've shown is that one can take the exotic properties of metamaterials and combine them with the unique proprieties of natural materials to form a hybrid that yields superior performance." The study that included David Shrekenhamer, Hou-Tong Chen, John O'Hara, Abul Azad, Antoinette Tayler and Richard Averitt appears in the online version of the journal Nature Photonics. Related Links Space Technology News - Applications and Research
Newly Discovered Superinsulators Promise To Transform Materials Research, Electronics Design Argonne IL (SPX) Apr 10, 2008 Superinsulation may sound like a marketing gimmick for a drafty attic or winter coat. But it is actually a newly discovered fundamental state of matter created by scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with several European institutions. This discovery opens new directions of inquiry in condensed matter physics and breaks ground for a new generation of microelectronics. |
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