Flexible and Wearable Metamaterials: new frontiers in biomedical and safety&security applications

Metamaterials are engineered material having periodic structures that exhibit unique properties when they interact with electromagnetic waves in comparison with natural materials. They offer interesting applications throughout the electromagnetic spectrum and are crucial in the Terahertz (THz) frequency band which lies between microwave and infrared and thus invisible to the human eye. This band is a new frontier both for research and technological applications in sectors ranging from astronomy to cultural heritage.

An interesting area of research is the development of metamaterial absorbers at the THz frequencies due to the difficulty of finding natural materials with high absorption in narrow spectral bands which can be suitably integrated into planar device technology.

An ultra-light, ultra-thin, biocompatible THz device, exhibiting high-absorption which is easy to manufacture, capable of being rolled up and suitable in wearable applications has been developed by two Cnr teams. The Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM) together with the Institute of Complex Systems (ISC), led by Luca Maiolo and Mauro Missori, respectively, and the research group coordinated by Fabrizio Frezza of the Department of Information Engineering, Electronics and Telecommunications of Sapienza University.

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