Editing Metamaterials and the Architecture of the Impossible (section)

== <span style="color: #FFFFFF;">Understanding</span> ==
Metamaterials are understood through '''the triumph of geometry over chemistry''' and '''the challenge of the visible spectrum'''.

'''The Triumph of Geometry over Chemistry''': If you want a piece of glass to be red, you change its chemistry (you add gold or copper particles). Metamaterials ignore chemistry. You can take a block of clear plastic, and by physically carving millions of microscopic, geometrically perfect pillars into its surface, the plastic will suddenly reflect perfect red light, or bend radar waves backwards, or perfectly absorb sonar. The physical, macroscopic *shape* of the structure overrides the chemical properties of the material. It is the transition from discovering materials to architecting them.

'''The Challenge of the Visible Spectrum''': Building an invisibility cloak that works against Radar (Microwaves) is relatively easy. Microwaves have long wavelengths (centimeters). You can build a metamaterial out of copper rings the size of a coin. But building an invisibility cloak that hides an object from the human eye is a massive manufacturing nightmare. Visible light has a wavelength of 400 to 700 nanometers. To control visible light, the geometric structures of the metamaterial must be carved at 50 nanometers wide. This requires the absolute most expensive, advanced, cutting-edge semiconductor lithography lasers on Earth just to build a metamaterial the size of a postage stamp.
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