Rice University researchers lead review of photonic,
phononic metamaterials
Strategies to manipulate light and sound go back to the
first spherical glass bead and the pounding of the first hollow log. But their
full potential is only just becoming apparent, according to a review by
materials scientists at Rice University and their colleagues.
New abilities to corral light and sound from the macroscale
to the nanoscale with structured polymers could deliver profound changes in the
way we live, said materials scientist Edwin “Ned” Thomas, the William and
Stephanie Sick Dean of the George R. Brown School of Engineering at Rice. Such
advanced materials could not only revolutionize computing and sensing
technology but could also bring about new strategies for soundproofing
buildings and cars, managing heat and cold and making submarines invisible to
sonar, he said.