8th International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics – Metamaterials 2014

Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-30 August 2014

The Gartner Hype Cycle for Metamaterials

G. Palikaras 1, E. Kallos 1
1
Metamaterial Technologies Inc., 1 Research Drive, Dartmouth, NS, B2Y 4M9, Canada
gp@metamaterial.com

Abstract – Even though metamaterials have been around for over 15 years, their optical applications
have yet to gain significant commercial traction. Inspired by the Gartner Hype Cycle, which
tracks the evolution of a technology over time, in this paper we examine the field of
metamaterials from this perspective.

I. THE GARTNER HYPE CYCLE

The Gartner Hyper Cycle presents the visibility of a certain technology as a function of time. It can be
applied to most technological breakthroughs, such as the invention of the transistor, the discovery of the laser, or
the early stages of the internet (ARPANET). It is shown in Fig. 1, and it comprises five stages.

Gartner’s Hype Cycle

Visibility

Peak of Inflated
Expectations

Plateau of
Slope of Productivity
Enlightenment

Trough of
Disillusionment

Technology
Trigger Time
Fig. 1. The Gartner Hype Cycle.

The first stage is the “Technology Trigger” – it is a critical point where a new discovery or invention appears
and ignites interest in the field. The second stage is the “Peak of Inflated Expectations”, where mass interest is
attracted and the potential applications of the technology are considered, usually with unrealistic expectations.
The third stage is the “Trough of Disillusionment”, where the original expectations are not met, and the interest
in the technology starts to gradually fade. The fourth stage is the “Slope of Enlightenment”, where the
technology by now is better understood, and more realistic applications are gradually emerging. Finally, the
“Plateau of Productivity” is a phase where mainstream adoption initiates and the use of the technology is clearer.
Note that the “Plateau of Productivity” never reaches the same height as the “Peak of Inflated Expectations”.

II. THE HYPE CYCLE FOR METAMATERIALS

The field of metamaterials could also be viewed through the lens of the Gartner Hype Cycle. Historically,
several concepts with light-manipulating properties that would later be covered under the metamaterial umbrella

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 8th International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics – Metamaterials 2014
Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-30 August 2014

have been introduced throughout the 20th century. Some examples include frequency selective surfaces [1],
photonic crystals [2], and the theoretical concept of a left-handed medium [3]. However, significant interest in
the field was ignited around the year 2000, due to the publication of several milestone papers, including the
experimental verification of a negative index medium [4] and the concept of a perfectly focusing lens [5]. This
can be considered the “Technology Trigger” for metamaterials, as shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. A Gartner Hype Cycle for metamaterials.

In the coming years, particularly up to 2005, the field witnessed an explosive growth, attracting the attention
of many researchers from diverse fields of physics and engineering. At an academic level, many new concepts
were introduced and new physics was demonstrated [6-8]. At the same time, the idea of an invisibility cloak [9]
captured the public’s imagination as well.
It soon became clear though that many of these new concepts could not be easily converted into commercial
applications, particularly with regards to optical metamaterials. Two of the main reasons for that are the inherent
losses which originate from their resonant behavior, their accordingly narrow bandwidth of operation, and the
fabrication challenges in scaling the structures to practical sizes more than a couple of wavelengths long. For
example, it is now evident that a perfect broadband cloak for any object in the visible range is extremely
challenging (if not impossible) to be build [10].
Since about 2010 we have entered a period where researchers have become more aware of these limitations
of bulk metamaterials and have started proposing concepts to work around them. One particular promising
example is metasurfaces [11], which due to their thin nature do not suffer from the same losses to the same
extent as bulk metamaterials. In addition, they can be more easily fabricated, as the recent success of Kymeta for
microwave surface metamaterials has shown [12]. We are entering the “Plateau of Productivity”, where such
commercial applications are becoming more prominent.

VI. OUTLOOK

Even with the advent of metasurfaces, commercial applications for optical metamaterials will most likely
require the development of nanofabrication methods, which can be scaled affordably to large surfaces. Some
examples of such potential methodologies include holography, which enables the parallel processing of large
structures, and sol-gel, a chemical method that allows precise control of the refractive index using cheap raw
materials. In any case, such solutions need to be optimized for optical metamaterial fabrication.

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 8th International Congress on Advanced Electromagnetic Materials in Microwaves and Optics – Metamaterials 2014
Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-30 August 2014

REFERENCES

[1] B. A. Munk, Frequency Selective Surfaces: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.
[2] J. D. Joannopoulos, Photonic crystals: molding the flow of light: Princeton University Press, 2008.
[3] V. Veselago, "The Electrodynamic of Substances with Simultaneously negative values of ε and μ,"
Soviet Physics Uspekhi, vol. 10, p. 509, 1968.
[4] D. R. Smith, et al., "Composite Medium with Simultaneously Negative Permeability and Permittivity,"
Physical Review Letters, vol. 84, pp. 4184-4187, 2000.
[5] J. B. Pendry, "Negative Refraction Makes a Perfect Lens," Physical Review Letters, vol. 85, pp. 3966-
3969, 2000.
[6] S. Zouhdi, et al., Metamaterials and Plasmonics: Fundamentals, Modelling, Applications: Springer,
2008.
[7] W. Cai and V. Shalaev, Optical Metamaterials: Fundamentals and Applications: Springer, 2009.
[8] F. Capolino, Theory and Phenomena of Metamaterials: CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, 2009.
[9] J. B. Pendry, et al., "Controlling Electromagnetic Fields," Science, vol. 312, pp. 1780-1782, June 23,
2006 2006.
[10] F. Monticone and A. Alù, "Do Cloaked Objects Really Scatter Less?," Physical Review X, vol. 3, p.
041005, 2013.
[11] A. V. Kildishev, et al., "Planar Photonics with Metasurfaces," Science, vol. 339, March 15, 2013 2013.
[12] Kymeta Corporation. Available: http://www.kymetacorp.com/

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