Introduction to Multi-Functional Metamaterials

ABSTRACT

Metamaterials are materials exhibiting unconventional physical/mechanical properties that cannot be readily found in nature. They have a foundation in electromagnetics, but at the same time they have found wide applications in several engineering acoustics/electrodynamics/mechanics disciplines. The analysis and the synthesis of such materials, often physically realized as macro-scale aggregations of micro-scale/periodic arrangements of identical unit cells, requires sophisticated modeling and design methodologies that are currently at the edge of the research. The course aims at providing the fundamentals of multi-functional metamaterials theory and concepts, along with an overview of the most effective analysis/synthesis techniques and their most appealing/emerging applications in advanced engineering fields. Applicative examples including exercises will corroborate the theoretical concepts.

 

COURSE FORMAT

The Course is taught in 🇬🇧️ ENGLISH and offered

• On-site
• On-line (synchronous and asynchronous)

with video recordings, hand-outs, etc. of the lectures available off-line. (*)

 

COURSE CONTENT

• Fundamentals of multi-functional metamaterials
• Volumetric and surface metamaterials (i.e., metasurfaces), soft/hard surfaces, periodic and quasi-periodic surfaces
• Advanced modeling and simulation techniques for the analysis of periodic and quasi-periodic structures
• Advanced design techniques for the synthesis of innovative metamaterials in engineering fields
• Applicative examples including exercises regarding specific engineering applications of multi-functional metamaterials

 

TEACHING ACTIVITIES

• Theoretical Lessons
• e-Xam Self Assessment (each teaching class or periodically)
• SW/HW Emulator Exercises
• e-Xam Final Assessment

 

FURTHER READINGS

1. F. Yang, Y. Rahmat-Samii, Surface Electromagnetics with Applications in Antenna, Microwave, and Optical Engineering, Cambridge University Press, 2019.
2. G. Oliveri, F. Zardi, P. Rocca, M. Salucci and A. Massa, "Building a Smart EM Environment - AI-Enhanced Aperiodic Micro-Scale Design of Passive EM Skins," in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 70, no. 10, pp. 8757-8770, Oct. 2022.
3. G. Oliveri, P. Rocca, M. Salucci and A. Massa, "Holographic Smart EM Skins for Advanced Beam Power Shaping in Next Generation Wireless Environments,“ in IEEE Journal on Multiscale and Multiphysics Computational Techniques, vol. 6, pp. 171-182, 2021.

For further references please contact the Lecturer(s).

(*) Each registered participant acknowledges that the material distributed in the frame of the course, available for the duration of one academic year, is protected by copyright and delivered for educational purposes and personal use only. The participant agrees and undertakes not to forward, publish, disclose, distribute, disseminate - in any form or manner - such a material without written consent of the author(s) of the material. Unless otherwise explicitly allowed by the speaker in written form, no recordings of the online lectures can be made.