Summer 2007
In this Issue:
Focus On Metamaterials
Message from the Director
Welcome to the summer issue of Focus on Materials, and our view of the emerging new world of Metamaterials. And just what are metamaterials you ask? They are engineered electromagnetic composite materials, structured at scales less than the wavelength of interest, which exhibit properties that do not occur in natural materials. Some of the current descriptors include left-handed materials, negative index materials, frequency selective surfaces, fishnets, and transparent metals. They can bring about negative refraction and backward wave propagation, or reverse the Doppler eff ect. They are being used to construct perfect lenses that allow sub-wavelength imaging, and shields to defl ect EM radiation to render objects nearly invisible. There are also potential applications for storing energy and for biomedical imaging. Today, it is mostly theory and design, some of it using powerful biologybased computer programs called genetic algorithms. In this issue you will learn how Penn State scientists and engineers are extending the theory and design to synthesize functional superatom clusters, to nano-imprint prototype devices for the next generation of handheld devices, and to fabricate windows and fabrics that integrate the manipulation of energy, light and communications for smart buildings and smart transportation vehicles.
Superatoms, sometimes called metamaterials themselves, could be the key building blocks for new nano and micro-scale devices. The image on the cover of this issue is a computer simulation of these superatoms, discovered here at Penn State. They can mimic the behavior of single atoms, but with characteristic properties not found anywhere in the periodic table of elements that we know of today...truly opening up the possibility of materials by design. At the gigaend of the materials scale, you will also learn about a larger-than-life vision for gaining energy independence while simultaneously taming global warming...solar roadways.
Also in this issue is a recap of this year’s annual Materials Day (April 10th & 11th) which carried a nanotechnology theme, but with a strong focus on nano commercialization. Penn State’s strength in nanotechnology was recognized recently by Small Times magazine in their annual university survey, in which Penn State ranked fi rst in research among the 39 major universities participating. Along with the usual Materials Day activities, this year’s event featured wellattended tours for our industry guests to highlight our Nanofabrication and Materials Characterization facilities.
You will also read about a new Penn State University center for the study of multiple wavelength laser processing of materials, and a newly available tool, the NanoTriboindenter, that provides useful information on the hardness and elasticity of materials. Like all of the instruments in our user facilities, the NanoTriboindenter is available to researchers from industry as well as academia. Enjoy the issue and the summer!
Sincerely,
Carlo Pantano
Director of the Materials Research Institute
and Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
To access the materials expertise at Penn State, please visit our Materials Research Institute web site at www.mri.psu.edu, or the Industrial Research Office web site at www.techtransfer.psu.edu/iro/.
