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Research on metamaterials is advancing quickly. While scientists continue to develop new types of metamaterials, growing interest is emerging in how the underlying ideas can be applied across entirely different disciplines.
Photo Credit: Mattias Pettersson
Scientific Frontline: Extended "At a Glance" Summary: Metamaterials
The Core Concept: Metamaterials are engineered materials designed to control electromagnetic, acoustic, or seismic waves in ways that do not occur in nature, deriving their properties from their artificial structure rather than their base atoms and molecules.
Key Distinction/Mechanism: Unlike conventional materials, metamaterials utilize highly specific, engineered structures that are smaller than the target wavelength. Instead of relying on natural chemical properties, scientists design physical architectures to achieve specific functions, such as bending light entirely around an object.
Major Frameworks/Components:
- Sub-Wavelength Structures: Engineered microscopic building blocks sized specifically to interact with and alter target wavelengths.
- Wave Manipulation: The deliberate control of electromagnetic, acoustic, and seismic waves to achieve unprecedented physical behaviors.
- "The Meta Way of Thinking": A theoretical shift from simply describing natural material properties to actively designing structural architecture to bypass natural limitations.
Branch of Science: Materials Science, Condensed Matter Physics, Optics, Acoustics, and Engineering.
Future Application: Development of extremely thin camera lenses, advanced solar cells, sensitive medical diagnostics devices, noise reduction systems, and smart surfaces to optimize wireless communication signals.
Why It Matters: By surpassing the natural limitations of molecular chemistry, metamaterials open entirely new technological frontiers in telecommunications, renewable energy, and healthcare diagnostics.
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| The figure illustrates how metamaterials replace nature’s own building blocks with engineered structures. This makes it possible to design materials with entirely new functions. Image Credit: Alexander Dmitriev, Göteborgs universitet |
They can bend light, control sound, and give materials entirely new properties. Metamaterials are currently one of the most discussed research fields in physics. Their future potential is engaging researchers around the world and was recently highlighted at a Nobel Symposium in Umeå.
Who has not dreamed of an invisibility cloak like the one used by Harry Potter? It sounds like magic, but it could become reality with the help of so-called metamaterials.
In the summer of 2026, some of the world's leading researchers in the field gathered in Umeå for a Nobel Symposium on metamaterials. The symposium was organized by Nicolò Maccaferri, associate professor at Umeå University. He studies these special materials, which over the past few decades have proven useful in fields ranging from telecommunications to medical technology.
“Unlike most other materials, the properties of metamaterials are determined not primarily by the atoms and molecules they are made of, but by their design,” says Nicolò Maccaferri.
He compares them to a musical instrument: the sound it produces depends not only on whether it is made of wood or metal, for example, but also on its shape.
Recently, he published a comment in the journal Nature Materials together with international colleagues, describing how the field has inspired an entirely new way of thinking about scientific problems.
What are metamaterials?
The concept of metamaterials was introduced in the late 1990s. It is based on the idea that very small structures, smaller than a wavelength, can be used as building blocks to give materials the ability to control waves, whether electromagnetic, acoustic, or seismic, in ways that do not occur in nature.
“Instead of asking only what a material naturally does, we ask what we want it to do—and then design its structure to achieve that function,” says Nicolò Maccaferri.
Interest in metamaterials took off when researchers showed that such structures could, in principle, be designed to guide light around an object, potentially rendering it invisible.
Today, there are already many promising applications of metamaterials. They can be used to make very thin camera lenses, improved solar cells, better displays, and sensitive detectors. They can also control sound and ultrasound, which could be useful in noise reduction and medical imaging.
“I find the sensing and healthcare applications especially exciting. Imagine small, fast, and affordable devices that can detect early signs of disease, monitor the environment, or analyze food quality,” says Nicolò Maccaferri.
He also sees great potential in communication technology, where smart surfaces could help guide wireless signals more efficiently in buildings, cities, and future communication networks.
A new way of thinking
The field has also given rise to a new way of looking at materials and technology more broadly. In Nature Materials, the researchers describe it as “the meta way of thinking.” It started with the study of light and sound waves but is now spreading to many other areas, including mechanics, chemistry, biology, and computing.
“It encourages researchers to ask bold questions such as ‘what if?’ and ‘why not?’ It is no longer only about describing nature, but also about exploring what else might be possible beyond the limits we once thought were impossible,” says Nicolò Maccaferri.
Reference material: What Is: Metamaterials
Published in journal: Nature Materials
Title: The meta way of thinking
Authors: Alexandre Dmitriev, Magnus P. Jonsson, Mark L. Brongersma, Nader Engheta, and Nicolò Maccaferri
Source/Credit: Umeå University | Sara-Lena Brännström
Edited by: Scientific Frontline
Reference Number: ms083126_01
