Novel semiconductor structure bends light 'wrong' way -- the
right direction for many applications A Princeton-led research
team has created an easy-to-produce material from the stuff of
computer chips that has the rare ability to bend light in the
opposite direction from all naturally occurring materials. This
startling property may contribute to significant advances in
many areas, including high-speed communications, medical
diagnostics and detection of terrorist threats. The new
substance is in a relatively new class of materials called
"metamaterials," which are made out of traditional substances,
such as metals or semiconductors, arranged in very small
alternating patterns that modify their collective properties.
This approach enables metamaterials to manipulate light in ways
that cannot be accomplished by normal materials. Previous
metamaterials were two-dimensional arrangements of metals, which
limited their usefulness. The Princeton invention is the first
three-dimensional metamaterial constructed ent