1. Super and Hyper-Imaging, organized by Lei Zhou

Conventional imaging techniques are bounded by the usual diffraction limit so that they cannot be applied to detect object features smaller than half of the working wavelength. Recent advances in metamaterials and plasmonics have made it possible to construct new imaging devices to beat the diffraction limit, with the ideas of super and hyper imaging. This special session will bring together several scientists working in this field, to present the most recent advances in the fundamentals and applications of the super and hyper imaging. Interesting applications to acoustic-wave focusing and detecting the ultra-small optical mode at the far field will be presented, and new functional imaging devices that can work in an ultra-wide frequency regime will also be introduced. In addition, the special session will also discuss some intrinsic theoretical problems related to the super and hyper imaging.

Presenters: Nicholas Fang (keynote); C. T. Chan, Shuang Zhang; Lei Zhou

2. Near Field Optics, organized by Harald Giessen

Near-field measurements have given us the ability to measure field distributions directly around metallic nanostructures. Recent advances include measurements down to the lambda/100 level, the measurement of vector fields which gives informations about the polarization directions, as well as the ability to measure the magnetic field components directly. The invited speakers will give an overview over recent advances in the near- and mid-IR spectral region as well as a discussion of the near-field of optical nano-antennas.

Presenters: Kobus Kuipers (keynote); Ralf Vogelgesang; Rainer Hillenbrand; Niek van Hulst

3. Dispersion Engineering in Microwave Circuits, organized by Ferran Martín

In this special session, the recent progress in dispersion engineering based on transmission-line metamaterials or related structures (i.e., tailoring the dispersion diagram of artificial transmission lines), will be reviewed by some of the pioneering groups working on this topic. Several microwave applications, including both passive and active circuits and antennas, will be highlighted, and several examples provided, with the emphasis on the advantages as compared to state-of-the-art components.

Presenters: Tatsuo Itoh; George Eleftheriades; Carlos Camacho; Ferran Martín; Irina Vendik

4. Acoustic Metamaterials, organized by José Sánchez-Dehesa

Research on acoustic metamaterials is an emergent topic which offers potential applications in acoustics, ultrasonics and vibroacoustics. This structured session is devoted to review the recent advances on metamaterials based on resonant and non-resonant units. Homogenization theories explaining the extraordinary properties of these new systems as well as their possible applications will be covered. Wave propagation through elastic and acoustic metamaterials will be also discussed. Emphasis is put on recent advances in cloaking, hyperlensing, subwavelength imaging, etc.

Presenters: Jensen Li; Stephan Enoch; Zhengyou Liu; Daniel Torrent; Chul Koo Kim

5. Plasmonics and Extraordinary Transmission, organized by M Sorolla

After the experimental discovery of the Extraordinary Transmission phenomenon, an intense discussion appeared on its initial plasmonic origin due to the replication in nearly perfect conductivity experiments, and several models have been therefore proposed. Now, the field has received novel ideas from the Metamaterials area and negative refraction has been demonstrated. Also, the possibility of its applications in waveguides and antennas for the terahertz gap is open. The special session covers a broad spectrum of the above described topics.

Presenters: Jaime Gomez-Rivas; Stefan Maier; Tahsin Akalin; Luis Martín-Moreno; Miguel Beruete

6. Scope and Limitations of Metamaterial Modeling, organized by Raj Mittra

The objectives of this special session is to review both semi-analytical and numerical techniques for modeling metamaterials, with a view to developing an understanding of the scope and limitations of these techniques.

Presenters: Andrea Alu, Anthony Grbic, Ricardo Marques, Raj Mittra, Constantin Simovski

7. Metamaterials for MRI Applications, organized by Richard Syms

Metamaterials have for some time offered the intriguing prospect of controlling magnetic properties at RF frequencies using materials that have no effect at DC. Because field integrity is key to image fidelity in magnetic resonance imaging, this property should allow flexible deployment of magnetically invisible components that can increase signal to noise ratio (SNR) or provide other functionality. Applications are therefore likely to exist in RF signal transmission and detection, and in more general flux manipulation and shielding. This session will present the latest advances in the field, and attempt to highlight applications where advantageous performance (particularly, improved SNR) may be obtained over more conventional approaches.

Presenters: Manuel Freire; Xavier Radu; André Rennings; Mike Wiltshire; Ian Young

8. Slow Waves and Coupling Mechanisms in Metamaterials, organized by A Radkovskaya and E Shamonina

Properties of metamaterials assembled from individual resonators are governed by strong interactions between individual ‘artificial atoms’. The coupling between individual resonators may lead to propagation of slow waves with the wavelength much shorter than that of the electromagnetic radiation. Due to these slow waves metamaterials may provide the basis for a variety of near-field manipulating devices including miniaturized waveguide components and near field lenses. This session discusses recent advances in studies of coupling mechanisms in metamaterials, properties of slow waves of coupling and in the developments of novel applications.

Presenters: Laszlo Solymar (keynote); Stefan Linden; Richard Syms; Thomas Zentgraf

9. Optical Metamaterials, organized by Maria Kafesaki

Since the birth of the negative index metamaterials field, there have been many efforts to extend the frequency of operation of such materials from the microwaves to the optical regime, targeting mainly telecommunications and imaging-related applications. These efforts though encounter serious challenges, stemming mainly from the non-perfect conductor behavior of the metal (which is the basic constituent of todays metamaterials) in the optical regime and the high losses involved, as well as from the current limitations in the fabrication capabilities which make the fabrication of submicron and nanoscale structures difficult. The session aims to review the efforts to face the above mentioned challenges and to highlight the recent progress in the field of optical metamaterials. Novel phenomena, structures, fabrication techniques and capabilities, as well as newly discovered possibilities of optical metamaterials will be also discussed.

Presenters: Costas Soukoulis; Vlad Shalaev; Justyna Gansel; Carsten Rockstuhl

10. Anisotropic Metamaterials, organized by Andrea Alù

The first attempts to realize metamaterials have often aimed at mitigating or eliminating anisotropy and spatial dispersion from the metamaterial inclusions to obtain, often unsuccessfully, a purely isotropic artificial material. As the field matures, however, it is becoming more and more clear how properties like extreme anisotropy and polarization dependence may be used to the great advantage of the designer. This special session will present the most recent advances in the field of anisotropic metamaterials, reporting the intriguing and beneficial effects that properly tailored anisotropy may have for specific applications of interest, from radio to optical frequencies. Applications like cloaking and anti-cloaking, imaging and focusing will be shown by the invited speakers to greatly benefit of the effects of anisotropy in a wide range of wavelengths and of material properties.

Presenters: Vladimir Shalaev; Mario Silveirinha; Vincenzo Galdi; Pavel Belov; Gennady Shvets

11. Modeling and Homogenization of Metamaterials, organized by G Shvets

This special session on Modeling and Homogenization of Metmaterials will bring together leading experimentalists and theoreticians in this area. The goal of this session is to highlight the state of the art in the field of Homogenization and Constitutive Parameters Extraction of Metamaterials. Papers pertaining to practical applications of homogenization techniques to embedded antennas and frequency-selective structures will be presented. Fundamental issues such as spatial dispersion will be addressed.

Presenters: Andrea Alù; Raj Mittra; Mario Silveirinha; Alexander Yakovlev; Mark Stockman

12. Periodic and Non-periodic Metamaterial Surfaces, organized by A Grbic

This special session will present recent advances in the design and analysis of metamaterial surfaces: subwavelength-structured surfaces possessing tailored electromagnetic properties. The talks will describe periodic and non-periodic metamaterial surface designs that operate at microwave, THz and optical frequencies. Various applications of metamaterial surfaces that include frequency filtering, shielding, switching, and focusing will be summarized.

Presenters: E. Rogers; D. Werner; W. Padilla; E. Kuester; C. Holloway; G.V. Eleftheriades

13. Metamaterial Engineered Antennas, organized by Richard Ziolkowski

The application of metamaterial constructs to improve various properties of antenna systems has proven to be very successful in several different frequency regimes. Progress to achieve multi-frequency and multi-functional designs with different types of passive and active metamaterial elements will be reviewed. Experimentally confirmed performance characteristics will be highlighted.

Presenters: George Eleftheriades; Daniel Segovia-Vargas; George Palikaras; Filliberto Bilotti; Rick Ziolkowski

14. European Projects on Fabrication of Metamaterial Nanostructures, session set up at an official request from FP7 project leaders and organized by Philippe Barois, Iris Bergmair, Volodymyr Kruglyak, and Toralf Scharf

Within the frame of the FP7 NMP call on nanostructured metamaterials, the European Commission has selected four projects on relevant material science and technology. Projects MAGNONICS, METACHEM, and NANOGOLD will focus on self-assembly of metal and magnetic particles, and project NIM-NIL will develop graphene fabrication techniques by combining CVD methods and nanoimprint lithography. The projects will have impact on design and processing of novel materials expanding the existing range of electromagnetic properties. The main goal of this session is to present the potentials of the material science and technology approaches studied by these new projects to the broad community of researchers working on metamaterials.

Presenters: Anne de Baas (keynote), Philippe Barois, Toralf Scharf, Walther Schwarzacher, Iris Bergmair