Optical Metamaterials: Fundamentals and ApplicationsWenshan Cai, Vladimir Shalaev, and Dilip K. Paul Citation: Phys. Today 63(9), 57 (2010); doi: 10.1063/1.3490504 View online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3490504 View Table of Contents: http://www.physicstoday.org/resource/1/PHTOAD/v63/i9 Published by the American Institute of Physics. Additional resources for Physics TodayHomepage: http://www.physicstoday.org/ Information: http://www.physicstoday.org/about_us Daily Edition: http://www.physicstoday.org/daily_edition

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September 2010 Physics Today 57

models, and hypothetical mechanismsto infer general rules, as Sommerfelddid in developing atomic theory.

Sommerfeld is best known for his1916 relativistic generalization of Bohr’smodel of the atom, his introduction ofthe fine-structure constant, and hisanalysis of the effects of electric andmagnetic fields on atomic spectra. He is also known for writing some of thefirst atomic- and quantum-physics textbooks. Atombau und Spektrallinien(Atomic Structure and Spectral Lines),Sommerfeld’s problem-oriented trea-tise on the old quantum theory, firstpublished in 1919, was revised almostannually until 1924. He published hislast text on quantum physics, Wellen-mechanischer Ergänzungsband (WaveMechanical Supplement), in 1929, afterthe emergence of Schrödinger’s wavemechanics; Paul Dirac’s aptly namedThe Principles of Quantum Mechanics followed in 1930. Sommerfeld’s multi-volume Lectures on Theoretical Physicsfeatured a number of technical applica-tions. In the 1940s I studied his excellenttextbooks on classical mechanics andelectromagnetic theory.

A significant portion of Crafting theQuantum is devoted to a discussion ofwhat is now known as the Sommerfeldschool of theoretical physics. Nearlyone-third of all full professors of theo-retical physics at German-speakingEuropean universities in 1928 wereformer doctoral students of Sommer-feld, who was the “doctoral father” tofour Nobel Prize winners: WernerHeisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, PeterDebye, and Hans Bethe. Many Ameri-can physicists, including Linus Pau -ling, I. I. Rabi, and Edward Condon,went to work with him. (In recognitionof his impact on the teaching ofphysics, the American Association ofPhysics Teachers awarded Sommer-feld its Oersted Medal in 1949.)

Crafting the Quantum can beapproached on two different levels: Forthe historian, it is a monograph on thepractice of early-20th-century theoreti-cal physics and a commentary onThomas Kuhn’s much-debated viewson the way science advances; for thegeneral reader, it is an account of the transition from the old “quantum-number mystique” to modern quantummechanics based on general symmetryprinciples and invariance. From the lat-ter vantage point, the book should be ofinterest to anyone who has studiedquantum mechanics.

Eugen MerzbacherChapel Hill, North Carolina

Optical MetamaterialsFundamentals and Applications

Wenshan Cai and Vladimir Shalaev Springer, New York, 2009. $129.00(200 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4419-1150-6

From the late 1960s through the early1980s, those of us who worked on mate-rials and devices did not use the terms“nano-” and “meta-.” Nor did we havesophisticated tools like the atomic force

microscope (AFM), or the bells andwhistles of fine-resolution, automatedtechniques for the manipulation ofmaterials on the nanoscale.

But Wenshan Cai and Vladimir Sha-laev do. These authors of Optical Meta-materials: Fundamentals and Applicationsare highly accomplished in the field ofmetamaterials, which are used to makesuch devices as invisible cloaks thatbend electromagnetic waves around ashrouded object or superlenses thatpermit spatial resolution below the diffraction limit. Metamaterials con -stitute a complex subject: Research-ers and students alike need a critical

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58 September 2010 Physics Today www.physicstoday.org

understanding of how the unique prop-erties and applications of those devicesdepend on the physics, chemistry, andoverall properties of optical and electro-magnetic components, and on howsuch components are designed and fabricated.

Optical Metamaterials begins with abrief introduction stuffed with amplereferences; the remaining chaptersextensively cover selected topics: opti-cal properties of metal–dielectric com-posites; experimental techniques anddata treatment; electric and magneticmetamaterials; negative-indexmaterials; applications of non-linear optics; super resolutionwith meta-lenses; and opticalcloaking.

One stated goal of theauthors is to write a textbookfor senior undergraduate andgraduate courses; indeed, thatis quite a commendable andlofty goal for this highly inter-disciplinary field! A useful textfor advanced undergraduates should,in my opinion, be self-contained, partic-ularly in its presen tation of introduc-tory material and unique aspects of afield. It should also systematicallydevelop basic concepts and then elabo-rate on specific engineering challenges,with worked-out examples. For in -stance, properties of both exotic andrun-of-the-mill metamaterials thatmight result in a working device mustbe identified before issues relating tofabrication and characterization areconsidered.

In its present form, Optical Meta -materials is not self-contained, and Iwould not recommend it as a textbook,even for graduate courses. Less experi-enced readers will be forced to rely oncited references to develop an under-standing of the structural details of unitcells in metamaterials composites or toderive the design equations that charac-terize such unit cells. When introducingvarious design equations and perform-ance trends in optical metamaterials,the book merely references certain sem-inal papers. It barely touches on thedesign and synthesis of metastructuresthat meet specific applications—forexample, or those involving two- andthree-dimensional arrays, input/outputinterfaces, packaging—nor does it dis-cuss their reliability and performance inbenign and adverse environments.

Readers will also need additionalbackground to understand the book’scomparison of different techniques orprocesses that are not common knowl-edge to graduate students or even tononexpert researchers. The authors fre-

quently mention the AFM and othermodern high-resolution characteriza-tion and fabrication tools, whose pur-pose is to correlate a metamaterial’sproperties with its micro- and nano -structures; a focus on that correlationwas sorely missing in this book.Another concern is the book’s presenta-tion of commercial simulation software:The authors used such programs intheir research to elucidate the perfor -mance of sought-after metamaterialsand devices, but fail to present thecodes that were used or to follow up

their illustrations withworked-out problems. Suchdetails would have helped thereader grasp the concepts andunderstand the implicationsof material choices.

I did enjoy reading OpticalMetamaterials for the purposethat best suits it: a usefuloverview that could encourageresearchers new to this multi-disciplinary field to dig deeper

in pursuing their goals. The chapters areshort and well written: They read likesummaries of research papers and notlike a textbook. Especially well presentedand concise are the chapters on negative-index materials and optical cloaking. Thebook is unnecessarily brief and sketchyat times, though, and may not be as use-ful for students and researchers who lacksufficient background in materials sci-ence and engineering; such readers willneed additional resources to acquire acomprehensive understanding of opticalmetamaterials. That said, a course text-book even for simple, well-developedsubjects carries enormous requirements;for a complex interdisciplinary topic likeoptical metamaterials, with its novelapplications, writing such a text is a verytall order indeed.

Dilip K. PaulAdvanced Concepts in

Engineering & Sciences IncBethesda, Maryland

The Hancocks ofMarlboroughRubber, Art, and the Industrial Revolution: A Family of Inventive Genius

John Loadman and Francis JamesOxford U. Press, New York, 2010.$49.95 (274 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-957355-4

Thomas Hancock (1786–1865) has oftenbeen accused of stealing the Britishpatent for vulcanized rubber from

under the nose of Charles Goodyear. He is exonerated by John Loadman andFrancis James in their lively biographyof him and his brothers, The Hancocks ofMarlborough: Rubber, Art, and the Indus-trial Revolution—A Family of InventiveGenius. The book also reveals howThomas’s unrivaled understanding ofthe tech nology of rubber productionfacilitated his independent invention ofthe vulcanizing process.

The Hancock family story is essen-tially the story of the British rubberindustry. Few important industrieshave suffered such neglect by historians,which is surprising since Thomas Han-cock handed us an unusually coherentand intimate source of information inhis Personal Narrative of the Origin andProgress of the Caoutchouc or India-RubberManufacture in England (1857). Hisbrother Walter was equally helpful inpublishing his Narrative of Twelve Years’Experiments (1824–1836) . . . of Employ-ing Steam-Carriages on Common Roads . . .(1838), which detailed technical suc-cesses that ended in commercial failurewhen the smart money abandoned theroads and took to the rails.

However, The Hancocks of Marlbor-ough is not the book for readers whowant an up-to-date history of the Britishrubber industry. The authors tacitlyadmit as much in their appendix, “TheEvolution of the Rubber IndustryToday,” a 12-page summary of two cen-turies of technical and business devel-opments, for which there was insuffi-cient space in their chapters. A morecomprehensive account is found inLoadman’s earlier monograph, Tears ofthe Tree: The Story of Rubber—A ModernMarvel (Oxford University Press, 2005).The book is also not an orthodox busi-ness history of the type that takes a sin-gle company as its subject and scruti-nizes everything from its balance sheetsto its markets and labor relations.

This book is something both less and more than those. It’s an intriguingfamily-business history—great-auntsand all, across five generations (one ofthe authors, James, belongs to thesixth)—that illuminates the impact ofbusiness dealings on fraternal relation-ships. Brothers and nephews cooperatedwith and supported—and sometimescompeted against and deceived—eachother. The Hancocks of Marlboroughreminds us that talent is a necessary butnot sufficient condition for success.Many would have described Thomasand his five young brothers, who leftMarlborough (in the rural southwest ofEngland) for London, as skilled, enter-prising, and creative. Thomas, John, andWalter were all mechanically adept

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