Metamaterials and plasmonics are cross-disciplinary fields that are emerging into the mainstream of many scientific areas. Examples of scientific and technical fields which are concerned are electrical engineering, micro- and nanotechnology, microwave engineering, optics, optoelectronics, and semiconductor technologies. In plasmonics, the interplay between propagating electromagnetic waves and free-electron oscillations in materials are exploited to create new components and applications. On the other hand, metamaterials refer to artificial composites in which small artificial elements, through their collective interaction, creates a desired and unexpected macroscopic response function that is not present in the constituent materials.
This book charts the state of the art of these fields. In May 2008, world-leading experts in metamaterials and plasmonics gathered into a NATO Advanced Research Workshop in Marrakech, Morocco. The present book contains extended versions of 22 of the presentations held in the workshop, covering the general aspects of the field, as well as design and modelling questions of plasmonics and metamaterials, fabrication issues, and applications like absorbers and antennas.