“Metamaterials can either replicate the properties of existing materials in new forms—such as at significantly smaller scales, or with better energy efficiency—or they can surpass them with entirely new functionality,” Likens says. “And since they’re fundamentally just responding to different kinds of waves, they have many potential use cases.”
The stimuli for metamaterial changes can include seismic waves, for example, with metamaterials that coat a building and flex to protect it during earthquakes. Other applications being developed include satellite uplink communications without the need for a static satellite dish; radar systems small enough for humans to carry; paper-thin acoustic dampening panels; seamless augmented reality (AR) headset lenses; and lighter-than-air compounds that can bear more than 100,000 times their own weight.
Some experts have predicted that metamaterials could grow to a multibillion-dollar industry by 2030. Currently, however, the most significant investment has come from the defense sectors in the United States and China regarding the development of hypersonic missiles, “invisibility cloaks” for tanks and planes, and new kinds of secure communications.
“The sector badly needs investment that can break it out of the R&D labs,” Likens says. “The potential is there for those willing to invest in transforming these experimental proofs-of-concept into viable products.”