Summer 2007
In this Issue:
Focus On Metamaterials
Features:
Materials By Design
It seems like the stuff of science fiction movies - a cloaking device to make objects invisible, a super lens that can see sharp details far below the wavelength of light. Those are the glamour concepts that are driving the new field of metamaterials research.
Building Nanomaterials One Superatom at a Time
Between the gas phase and the condensed phase of liquids and solids, lies an intermediate state of matter that is not quite one phase or the other.
New Laser Center for Training and Research Opens
Judith Todd calls it a basic science project, to understand the physics of how to sustain a laser plasma and then how to use the plasma to develop novel compositions and microstructures on surfaces.
MCL Nanoindenter is Ready for Prime Time
The nanoindenter has only recently developed into a tool that is ready to be widely introduced to the Penn State research community.
Highways of Glass - One Man Dreams of Changing the World
Energy dependence and global climate change are daunting problems that will call for daring (and expensive) solutions. This idea certainly qualifies as both.
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.
Materials Day 2007 -
Nano: Expanding the Frontier
The theme of Materials Day at Penn State on April 10-11 was the science, the future, and the commercial viability of nanotechnology, which is the ability to control and manipulate matter on the scale of atoms, molecules, and macromolecules. Organized by Penn State's Materials Research Institute to bring University materials faculty and students together with industry representatives, and to showcase the results of University research, Materials Day 2007 was rich in both scientific information and opportunities for interaction among the materials community.
