A research team led by Professor Wie Jeong-jae of the Department of Organic and Nano Engineering at Hanyang University has won an international research project contract with the US Air Force Research Laboratory called the “Magneto-Mechanically Reconfigurable Metasurface.” The research team received USD 200,000, or about KRW 250 million, from the Air Force Research Laboratory, for September–August 2024.

A metasurface, in which a two-dimensional scatterer smaller than arranged light’s wavelength, can modify various characteristics, such as the light’s wavefront, polarized light distribution, and intensity. Manufacturing the scatterer on the metasurface with a high refractive index dielectric material instead of an expensive metal improves the efficiency of light reforming, but the shape change of the scatterer cannot be realized. Professor Wie’s research team aims to develop a reversibly shape-changing three-dimensional structure metasurface using composite materials containing magnetic particles and high dielectric constant particles to dynamically and differently control light reforming. Through active research over the past four years, he has succeeded in controlling various magneto-mechanical shape changes, including twisting, bending, or phased assembling of microstructures. He will also develop optical metasurfaces of nanostructures based on them.

Professor Wie’s research team said, “We will do our best to organically collaborate with the US Air Force Research Laboratory and play an active role on the global stage in developing various platforms and optical metasurfaces using the Magneto-Mechanically Reconfigurable Metasurface.”