The new field of transformation optics (TO) uses this light-bending phenomenon in a rigorously mathematical way by applying the 150-year-old Maxwell equations describing the propagation of light onto structures known as metamaterials, artificial constructs with custom-designed refractive indexes. Illusions, such as mirages in the desert or the shimmer of water on the road ahead on a hot day, are caused by a difference in the refractive index of layers of warmer and cooler air. Light bends naturally as it crosses from one material to another, a phenomenon called refraction that can be seen in the way a stick seems to bend in water. The path forward requires some twists on well-known equations, and the construction of structures smaller than the wavelength of light. Further down the road lies high-speed all-optical computing. In the medium term, optical integrated circuits for infrared imaging systems are feasible. Newswise - Using a combination of the new tools of metamaterials and transformation optics, engineers at Penn State University have developed designs for miniaturized optical devices that can be used in chip-based optical integrated circuits, the equivalent of the integrated electronic circuits that make possible computers and cell phones.Ĭontrolling light on a microchip could, in the short term, improve optical communications and allow sensing of any substance that interacts with electromagnetic waves.

Penn state meta materials