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    Metamaterials and metasurfaces

    Also known as metamaterial, metasurface, metalens, metaoptics

    Metamaterials are engineered structures whose properties come from how they are built rather than what they are made of, using repeated features smaller than the waves they control.[1] Once known mainly for negative refraction and "invisibility cloaks", the field reached mass consumer products in 2023, when flat metasurface lenses appeared in smartphone depth sensors.[2][3][4]

    Editor reviewedUpdated Materials sciencePhysicsScience
    Key facts

    What they are

    A metamaterial gets its properties “from how it is made, rather than its content”. It is built from repeated structures, like an artificial crystal, whose features are smaller than the waves it is designed to influence.[1] By choosing the shape, size and arrangement of those building blocks, designers can control light, radio waves or sound in ways natural materials cannot.[1]

    A metasurface is the flat, single-layer version: a patterned surface that shapes light passing through it. Metalenses are metasurfaces that work as lenses.[5]

    Negative refraction and cloaking

    The effect that made metamaterials famous is a negative refractive index. Light entering such a structure bends the opposite way from how it bends entering water or glass, and nothing in nature behaves this way.[2]

    The second famous idea is the cloak. With the right design, a metamaterial shell steers waves around an object and brings them back together behind it, so the object is hidden from those waves.[3] The first working version was demonstrated at Duke University in October 2006, using a design framework from John Pendry of Imperial College London. It deflected microwaves around a hidden object.[6] It worked only in two dimensions and at microwave frequencies, and its makers said cloaking visible light would need far smaller and more intricate structures.[7] Researchers have also explored acoustic cloaks and large-scale structures to shield buildings or shorelines from seismic and tsunami waves.[3]

    From physics to products

    The commercial breakthrough came from flat optics rather than cloaks. In early 2023, smartphones with metalens-equipped time-of-flight depth sensors went on sale. They were the first consumer devices to use metasurface optics, developed by Metalenz with STMicroelectronics.[4] Metalenses are completely flat and are made on silicon wafers with existing semiconductor processes. They can also combine several optical functions in one layer.[5]

    Why it matters

    In metamaterials, structure rather than chemistry sets the behaviour; in twisted 2D materials, likewise, a small rotation changes the electronic bands.[1][8] Metalenz’s chief executive has said the biggest hurdle to commercialisation was not manufacturing but persuading a customer to take the risk of adopting a new technology.[9] See the materials science crash course hub for how this fits the wider field.

    From microwaves to sound and fabs

    The 2006 Duke cloak was less than five inches across. It was made from copper rings and wires patterned onto fibreglass circuit-board sheets and arranged in concentric circles. The team reported it in Science Express on 19 October 2006.[10] Visible light needs much smaller features. In 2011 UC Berkeley engineers demonstrated a visible-light “carpet cloak” that could hide an object about the size of a small bacterium.[11] The same idea works for other waves. A 3D-printed acoustic cloak, the first in three dimensions, was introduced in March 2013, and buried seismic shields have been proposed as a theoretical way to protect buildings from earthquakes.[12]

    Metasurfaces were first demonstrated in Federico Capasso’s group at Harvard. Metalenz said its 2016 demonstration produced the first high-quality images from metasurfaces.[13] Volume came through the chip industry. Metalenz’s flat lenses replace some optics in STMicroelectronics’ FlightSense time-of-flight modules, a product line of which ST had sold more than 1.7 billion units. Metalenz itself is fabless and relies on existing semiconductor foundries, the same model described in how chips are made.[14]

    Questions readers ask

    What is a metamaterial?

    A material whose properties come from its engineered structure rather than its chemical composition, built from repeating features smaller than the waves it is designed to influence.[1]

    Do invisibility cloaks really exist?

    Metamaterial cloaks are designed to guide waves around an object and recombine them behind it, and acoustic and seismic versions have also been explored.[3]

    Are metamaterials used in any products?

    Yes. Since early 2023, smartphones have shipped with time-of-flight sensors using flat metasurface lenses developed by Metalenz and STMicroelectronics.[4]

    Sources

    Each numbered claim is a statement we checked against the sources listed with it. Status shows how well established it is.

    1. [1]

      A metamaterial gets its properties from its structure rather than its composition, using repeated features smaller than the waves it is designed to influence. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    2. [2]

      Some metamaterials have a negative refractive index, bending light the opposite way to natural materials; nothing in nature has a negative refractive index. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    3. [3]

      A metamaterial cloak is designed to guide waves around an object and recombine them behind it; acoustic and seismic versions have also been explored. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    4. [4]

      In early 2023 smartphones with metalens-equipped time-of-flight sensors, developed by Metalenz and STMicroelectronics, became the first consumer devices to use metasurface optics. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    5. [5]

      Metalenses are completely flat and are made on silicon wafers using existing semiconductor processes. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    6. [6]

      In October 2006 Duke University researchers, working with a design framework from John Pendry of Imperial College London, demonstrated the first working metamaterial cloak, which deflected microwaves around a hidden object. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    7. [7]

      The 2006 cloak worked only in two dimensions and at microwave frequencies; its makers said visible-light cloaking would need far smaller and more intricate metamaterial structures. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    8. [8]

      A 2011 theory paper predicted that at "magic" twist angles of about one degree, the lowest moiré band of twisted bilayer graphene becomes flat and electron velocity at the Dirac point vanishes. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    9. [9]

      Metalenz's chief executive said the biggest hurdle to commercialising metasurface optics was not manufacturing but convincing a customer to take the risk of adoption. confirmedas of 2026-10-10

    10. [10]

      The 2006 Duke cloak, less than five inches across, was made of copper rings and wires patterned onto fibreglass circuit-board sheets arranged in concentric circles, and was reported in Science Express on 19 October 2006. confirmedas of 2006-10-19

    11. [11]

      In 2011 UC Berkeley engineers demonstrated a visible-light "carpet cloak" able to hide an object about the size of a small bacterium. confirmedas of 2013-05-28

    12. [12]

      Researchers have also built acoustic cloaks, including a 3D-printed three-dimensional acoustic cloak introduced in March 2013, and proposed buried seismic shields that could in theory protect buildings from earthquake vibrations. confirmedas of 2013-05-28

    13. [13]

      Metasurfaces were first demonstrated in Federico Capasso's group at Harvard, and Metalenz said its 2016 demonstration showed the first high-quality images from metasurfaces. confirmedas of 2023-03-01

    14. [14]

      Metalenz's flat lenses replace some optics in STMicroelectronics' FlightSense time-of-flight modules, a product line of which ST had sold more than 1.7 billion units, and Metalenz operates as a fabless company using existing semiconductor foundries. confirmedas of 2023-03-01

    Revision history (2)
    1. Page created.
    2. Added how the first cloak was built, later visible-light, acoustic and seismic cloaks, and how metalenses reached volume production.

    Created Oct 10, 2026. Last reviewed by an editor on Oct 10, 2026. Next scheduled review: Jan 10, 2027.

    Cite this page

    "Metamaterials and metasurfaces." ContentLora, updated Oct 10, 2026. https://contentlora.com/wiki/metamaterials

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