Vladimir Shalaev: The Exciting Science of Light with Metamaterials

Metamaterials (MMs) are rationally designed artificial materials with versatile properties that can be tailored to fit almost any practical need and thus go well beyond what can be obtained with "natural" materials. We review the exciting field of optical metamaterials and discuss the recent progress in developing tunable and active MMs, nanolasers, artificial optical magnetism, semiconductor-based and loss-free negative-index MMs, and a new means for engineering the photonic density of states with MMs. A powerful paradigm of shaping space for light with transformation optics, which can enable a family of new applications ranging from a flat magnifying hyperlens to an invisibility cloak, will be also discussed. Finally, we review a new approach for broadband light bending by using meta-interfaces with plasmonic nanoantennas. The challenges and future directions for the field will be outlined.

Vladimir (Vlad) M. Shalaev, Scientific Director for Nanophotonics in the Birck Nanotechnology Center and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Purdue University, specializes in nanophotonics, plasmonics, and optical metamaterials. He is a Fellow of SPIE, OSA, APS, and IEEE. He is the author of three books, 21 book chapters and over 300 research publications.