Electromagnetic(EM)metamaterials represent a cutting-edge field that achieves anomalously macroscopic properties through artificial design and arrangement of microstructure arrays to freely manipulate EM fields and wa...Electromagnetic(EM)metamaterials represent a cutting-edge field that achieves anomalously macroscopic properties through artificial design and arrangement of microstructure arrays to freely manipulate EM fields and waves in desired ways.The unit cell of a microstructure array is also called a meta-atom,which can construct effective medium parameters that do not exist in traditional materials or are difficult to realize with traditional technologies.By deep integration with digital information,the meta-atom is evolved to a digital meta-atom,leading to the emergence of information metamaterials.Information metamaterials break the inherent barriers between the EM and digital domains,providing a physical platform for controlling EM waves and modulating digital information simultaneously.The concepts of meta-atoms and metamaterials are also introduced to high-frequency integrated circuit designs to address issues that cannot be solved by traditional methods,since lumped-parameter models become unsustainable at microscopic scales.By incorporating several meta-atoms to form a metachip,precise manipulation of the EM field distribution can be achieved at microscopic scales.In this perspective,we summarize the physical connotations and main classifications of meta-atoms and briefly discuss their future development trends.Through this article,we hope to draw more research attention to explore the potential values of meta-atoms,thereby opening up a broader stage for the in-depth development of metamaterials.展开更多
基金supported by the Project on Frontier and Interdisciplinary Research Assessment,Academic Divisions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XK2023XXA001)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.62422106,62131007,62471109,and 62288101).
文摘Electromagnetic(EM)metamaterials represent a cutting-edge field that achieves anomalously macroscopic properties through artificial design and arrangement of microstructure arrays to freely manipulate EM fields and waves in desired ways.The unit cell of a microstructure array is also called a meta-atom,which can construct effective medium parameters that do not exist in traditional materials or are difficult to realize with traditional technologies.By deep integration with digital information,the meta-atom is evolved to a digital meta-atom,leading to the emergence of information metamaterials.Information metamaterials break the inherent barriers between the EM and digital domains,providing a physical platform for controlling EM waves and modulating digital information simultaneously.The concepts of meta-atoms and metamaterials are also introduced to high-frequency integrated circuit designs to address issues that cannot be solved by traditional methods,since lumped-parameter models become unsustainable at microscopic scales.By incorporating several meta-atoms to form a metachip,precise manipulation of the EM field distribution can be achieved at microscopic scales.In this perspective,we summarize the physical connotations and main classifications of meta-atoms and briefly discuss their future development trends.Through this article,we hope to draw more research attention to explore the potential values of meta-atoms,thereby opening up a broader stage for the in-depth development of metamaterials.
