A new metamaterial design rule shows how simple steady-field patterns can be turned into a method for controlling complex waves

The new less-for-more paradigm can be applied to multiple different types of waves, such as sound, light or water (Credit: iStock/Wacomka).

Material behaviour is traditionally determined by chemistry. Free electrons in metals give rise to conductivity, unfilled orbitals make elements reactive. Metamaterials, on the other hand, have properties that come mainly from its internal design, not just from what it is made of.

These types of materials are characterised by a specifically designed larger-scale repeating pattern that interacts with waves in a chosen way. Invisibility cloaks are one such example. These are designed so that waves bend around an object and then recombine on the other side, making the object scatter much less light, sound or another type of wave.

The challenge is designing metamaterials to give you exactly the properties that you want.…