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Professor David R. Smith, Publications

Updated July 13, 2009

Dr. Smith's research has focused primarily on the electromagnetic properties of artificially structured materials. In particular, Dr. Smith has explored the potential of patterned metal structures, which can have electromagnetic or optical properties beyond those found in nature. Dr. Smith's publications include theoretical, computational and experimental studies of artificially structured media, which are now commonly referred to as metamaterials.

In 2000, Dr. Smith's group demonstrated a "left-handed" metamaterial, the first known example of such a medium that had been hypothesized by Russian physicist Victor Veselago in 1968. The left-handed metamaterial--also known as a "negative index" or "double negative" material--was a powerful demonstration that metamaterials could be used to realize materials beyond those that nature provides.

In 2006, Dr. Smith's group at Duke demonstrated a metamaterial "invisibility cloak," or a metamaterial structure designed to conceal a region from detection over a small band of frequencies in the microwave region. The purpose of the experiment was to show that metamaterials could be utilized to form complex media. In this case, the design of the metamaterial was achieved through the new technique of "transformation optics," in which coordinate transformations are used to design electromagnetic media.

In addition to metamaterials research, Dr. Smith's group has a longstanding interest in the propagation of surface plasmons. Surface plasmons are coupled optical/electronic excitations that occur at the surfaces of metals, primarily at optical wavelengths. Dr. Smith has been involved in the development and use of plasmon resonant nanoparticles for use as optical probes in bio-diagnostic assays. More recently, Dr. Smith has been seeking to develop plasmonic structures to form integrated photonic components.

Publications from the Smith group are listed below, by year. Click on the links to toggle the list for a given year.

2009 Publications 2008 Publications 2007 Publications 2006 Publications 2005 Publications 2004 Publications 2003 Publications 2002 Publications 2001 Publications 2000 Publications 1999 Publications Earlier Publications