‘Meta-Atoms’ Could Advance Optical Devices

Specially designed “meta-atoms” capable of stretching lightwaves and accelerating them to a speed faster than light could advance optical devices, a US group has theorized.

The research is the latest in a series of recent findings related to how light and matter interact at the atomic scale. Missouri University of Science and Technology researchers are the first to demonstrate that the material — a meta-atom of gold and silicon oxide — can funnel light through ultrasmall channels at a speed approaching infinity.

The meta-atoms could be integrated as building blocks for unconventional optical components with exotic electromagnetic properties over a wide frequency range, the researchers say. Optical devices currently rely on a single frequency to transmit light.