Nonlinear metamaterials

A nonlinear metamaterial is an artificially constructed material that can exhibit properties not found in nature. Its response to electromagnetic radiation can be characterized by its permittivity and material permeability. The product of the permittivity and permeability results in the refractive index. Unlike natural materials, nonlinear metamaterials can produce a negative refractive index. These can also produce a more pronounced nonlinear response than naturally occurring materials. Metamaterials scientists A nonlinear metamaterial is an artificially constructed material that can exhibit properties not found in nature. Its response to electromagnetic radiation can be characterized by its permittivity and material permeability. The product of the permittivity and permeability results in the refractive index. Unlike natural materials, nonlinear metamaterials can produce a negative refractive index. These can also produce a more pronounced nonlinear response than naturally occurring materials. Nonlinear metamaterials are a periodic, nonlinear, transmission medium. These are a type of negative index metamaterial where the nonlinearity is available because the microscopic electric field of the inclusions can be larger than the macroscopic electric field of the electromagnetic (EM) source. This then becomes a useful tool which allows for enhancing the nonlinear behavior of the metamaterial. A dominant nonlinear response, however, can be derived from the hysteresis-type dependence of the material's magnetic permeability on the magnetic component of the incident electromagnetic wave (light) propagating through the material. Furthermore, the hysteresis-type dependence of the magnetic permeability on the field intensity allows changing the material from left to right-handed and back. Nonlinear media are essential for nonlinear optics. However most optical materials have a relatively weak nonlinear response, meaning that their properties only change by a small amount for large changes in intensity of the electromagnetic field. Nonlinear metamaterials can overcome this limitation, since the local fields of the inclusions can be much larger than the average value of the field. Metamaterials are incarnations of materials first proposed by a Russian theorist, Victor Veselago in 1967. Nonlinear metamaterials, a type of metamaterial, are being developed in order to manipulate electromagnetic radiation in new ways. Optical and electromagnetic properties of natural materials are often altered through chemistry. With metamaterials optical and electromagnetic properties can be engineered through the geometry of its unit cells. The unit cells are materials that are ordered in geometric arrangements with dimensions that are fractions of the wavelength of the radiated electromagnetic wave. By having the freedom to alter effects by adjusting the configurations and sizes of the unit cells, control over permittivity and magnetic permeability can be achieved. These two parameters (or quantities) determine the propagation of electromagnetic waves in matter. Therefore, the achievable electromagnetic and optical effects can be extended. Optical properties can be expanded beyond the capabilities of lenses, mirrors, and other conventional materials. One of the effects most studied is the negative index of refraction first proposed by Victor Veselago in 1967. Negative index materials, exhibit optical properties opposite to those of glass, air, and the other conventional materials. At the correct frequencies, the negative index metamaterial refracts electromagnetic waves in novel ways, to a zero index or negative index. Also, energy can propagate in the opposite direction which can result in compensation mechanisms, among other possibilities. Materials which scatter light or other electromagnetic waves create a general physical process where the different frequencies of light are forced to deviate from a straight trajectory. It is because, physically, the material is non-uniform at one, or more, or many places. Furthermore, the optical sciences make predictions about the path of light traversing through a material. When light deviates from its predicted (reflected) path, this also is considered scattering. The split ring resonators which make up metamaterials are engineered to scatter light at resonance. Moreover, these resonant scattering elements are purposely designed at a uniform size throughout the material. This uniform size is much smaller than the wavelength of the frequency of light propagating through the material.