Duke University electrical engineers have developed a man-made material that they say literally allows them to manipulate light at will.

They say that the results of their latest proof-of-concept experiments could lead to the replacement of electrical components with those based on optical technologies, which should allow for faster and more efficient transmission of information, much in the same way that replacing wires with optical fibers revolutionized the telecommunications industry.

When light passes through a material, even though it may be reflected, refracted, or weakened as it passes through, it is still the same light coming out. This is known as linearity. The breakthrough revolves around a novel man-made structure known as a metamaterial. These exotic composite materials are not so much a single substance but an entire structure that can be engineered to exhibit properties not readily found in nature. The structure used in these experiments resembles a miniature set of tan Venetian blinds.

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