First Ever 3D Metamaterials Have Extraordinary Properties

When it comes to diverting and controlling waves, such as sound and light, metamaterials have extraordinary properties. Now, scientists have developed the first 3D metamaterials by combining physic-chemical formulation and microfluidics technology.

This new generation of soft metamaterials is easier to shape. This, in particular, may open up new prospects when it comes to high-resolution imaging.

In order to actually create a metamaterial, it's necessary to make a heterogeneous medium that contains a large number of inclusions, known as microresonators. The usual way to do this is to use micromechanical methods to machine solid supports that will have the properties of metamaterials in one or two dimensions. However, this method cannot be used to work with soft matter at the micrometer scales required for ultrasounds, and the materials that are created are limited to one or two dimensions.

In this case, the scientists created a metamaterial in the fluid phase that they formed out of porous silicone microbeads embedded in a water-based gel. This metafluid was the first 3D metamaterial to work at ultrasonic frequencies. Not only that, but it can be made using physic-chemical processes and microfluidics technologies.

These findings pave the way to a whole new set of applications. These applications range from high-resolution ultrasound imaging to sound insulating and stealth in underwater acoustics. Not only that, but the soft-matter physic-chemical techniques used to make this metamaterial makes it possible to produce fluid or flexible materials with adaptable shapes, potentially at the industrial scale.

The findings are published in the journal Nature Materials.

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