NEWS & VIEWS

metamaterials in question are designed This modified magnetic response over electromagnetic fields, termed
around superconducting elements6. depends on the size of the cubes as well ‘transformation optics’.
Although the a.c. operation of such as the separation between them, and can In particular, the superconducting
superconducting metamaterials will not be therefore be controlled by the geometry of metamaterials pioneered by Magnus and
entirely loss-less, for low frequencies the the unit cell of the metamaterial. collaborators can be used for ‘cloaking’
corresponding absorption in such systems Using different and more complex a region of space from static magnetic
will be significantly smaller than in their structures than the present case thus fields while — unlike the common
resistive metal counterparts. offers another control parameter for Meissner effect of magnetic field
Following on the original theoretical extending the range of the magnetic expulsion from bulk superconductors —
work by Wood and Pendry6, Magnus response of the system, tailored for leaving the outside fields unperturbed.
and colleagues have now demonstrated specific applications. Furthermore, superconducting
the first such superconducting In their experimental realization metamaterials also offer a new system
metamaterial4. As opposed to the of superconducting metamaterial, for exploring the interplay of ‘classical’
inherent electromagnetic resonant Magnus et al. used stacked layers of an electromagnetism with quantum effects
response harvested by ‘conventional’ array of lead plates in sizes ranging from such as Josephson tunnelling. Although
metamaterials5, this novel design is 133 to 163 µm. Depending on the size of it is too early to tell which devices and
essentially non-resonant. Instead, the the superconducting elements and the applications will take the most advantage
function of the metamaterial relies on gaps between them, the observed magnetic of superconducting metamaterials,
the expulsion of the magnetic field from permeability varied between zero and their development opens up many
the superconducting elements. If the about 0.6, in perfect agreement with the exciting possibilities.
metamaterial is formed by an array of original theoretical prediction.
superconducting cubes (Fig. 1a), the The successful demonstration of this References
magnetic field, applied in the direction of concept may now enable local control of 1. Veselago, V. G. Sov. Phys. USPEKHI 10, 509–514 (1968).
2. Pendry, J. B., Schurig, D. & Smith, D. R. Science
one of the cube edges, is confined to the the magnetic response by the variation 312, 1780–1782 (2006).
gaps between the faces parallel to the field of the unit-cell geometry across the 3. Pendry, J. B. Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3966–3969 (2000).
direction (Fig. 1b). As has been shown device structure. Such inhomogeneous 4. Magnus, F. et al. Nature Mater. 7, 295–297 (2008).
5. Shalaev, V. M. Nature Photon. 1, 41–48 (2007).
previously, this confinement modifies the metamaterials may lead to a much 6. Wood, B. & Pendry, J. B. J. Phys. Condens. Matter
magnetic permeability of the material6. more sophisticated way of control 19, 076208 (2007).

material witness
Starting to shine
Some new fields of research what was happening: the light excites waves on optical fibres stops light escaping
announce themselves with a in mobile surface electrons of the metal (Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 066402; 2008). They
fanfare — high-temperature (plasmons), with the same frequency but say that electric fields can dynamically
superconductivity was one. shorter wavelength. These can pass through tune the local refractive index of these
Others start with a whisper, the holes and lead to re-radiation of light structures, so that a block of metamaterial
heard by insiders but on the far side. might be reversibly imprinted with
inaudible to the rest of us. Ebbesen and colleagues hinted at all kinds of optical-response patterns:
Plasmonics is of this variety. “applications in novel photonic devices”, one moment a lens, the next a mirror
Had this field begun with but only more recently has it become or waveguide.
what is now its most famous clear what that could mean: for example, Meanwhile, Le Perchec et al. have
trick — rendering objects invisible coupling light signals to nanoscale metal shown that surface plasmons could
with shields that bend electromagnetic waveguides on a chip without suffering explain why some metal films (notably
radiation in strange ways — it would have from diffraction-limit restrictions on size. silver) absorb light strongly: relatively
made instant headlines. But one of the Plasmonic nanoshells have been proposed shallow surface grooves can ‘capture’ the
foundational papers seemed at the time a as light-absorbing heaters to burn up light by acting as plasmonic resonators
mere curiosity, not obviously fitting into cancerous tissue. And metamaterials, the and waveguides (Phys. Rev. Lett.
any familiar agenda. stuff of the invisibility cloak, also depend 100, 066408; 2008). The effect might also
Thomas Ebbesen and his co-workers on the excitation of surface plasmons in explain why such metal films produce
at the NEC Research Institute in their metallic components. surface-enhanced Raman scattering, a
Princeton reported in 1998 that light One problem with plasmonic devices is useful spectroscopic tool. And Zhang et al.
can be squeezed through metallic films that some of the plasmon energy is typically have found that surface voltages excited
perforated by arrays of cylindrical radiated away because of scattering at the on the inner face of invisibility shields will
pores, even though the pores were just boundaries of materials with different reflect electromagnetic waves radiated
a tenth as wide as the light’s wavelength refractive index. Elser and Podolskiy have from an active device inside, eliminating
(Nature 391, 667–669; 1998). That defied now shown how metamaterials might leakages that would reveal its presence
the conventional wisdom that light do away with this source of power loss, (Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 063904; 2008). As
transmission is limited by diffraction by cladding interfaces with structures of far as plasmons go, we are clearly still just
effects. Ebbesen discovered this almost suitably graded optical properties — not scratching the surface.
a decade earlier, but only later deduced unlike the way graded-index cladding Philip Ball

274 nature materials | VOL 7 | APRIL 2008 | www.nature.com/naturematerials