雙語：未來的世界 由超材料建造

Plastics.Computers.Metamaterials?塑料。電腦。超材料？AlmosthalfacenturyafterDustinHoffmanwastakenasidein“TheGraduate"andgiventhefamous“oneword"lineaboutthefuture,itmaybetimetoupdatethescriptagain.Andmetamaterialsappeartohavethesamepotentialtotransformentireindustries.Overthepast15yearsorso,scientistshavelearnedhowtoconstructmaterialsthatbendlightwaves,aswellasradar,radio,soundandevenseismicwaves,inwaysthatdonotnaturallyoccur.在電影《畢業(yè)生》(TheGraduate)中，有人將達(dá)斯汀?霍夫曼(DustinHoffman)叫到一旁，對他說出了那句著名的"一個(gè)詞"未來預(yù)言?，F(xiàn)在距離電影上映已過去將近半個(gè)世紀(jì)，或許是時(shí)候更新劇本了。超材料似乎也具有那種可以改變整個(gè)產(chǎn)業(yè)的潛力。在過去大約15年的時(shí)間里，科學(xué)家已經(jīng)學(xué)會如何制造能夠以非自然的方式使光波、雷達(dá)波、無線電波、聲波，甚至地震波彎曲的材料。Firsttheorizedin1967bytheRussianphysicistVictorVeselagoandinventedin1999byagroupledbythephysicistDavidR.Smith,thenewdesignapproachwasfirstseenasacuriositythathintedatsciencefictionapplicationslikeinvisibilitycloaks.俄羅斯物理學(xué)家維克托?韋謝拉戈(VictorVeselago)于1967年首次在理論上提出設(shè)想，物理學(xué)家戴維?R?史密斯(DavidR.Smith)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的研究小組于1999年將理論轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)。這種新方法起初被視作科幻小說中提到的稀奇之物，比如隱形披風(fēng)。Buttoday,researchershavegainedabetterunderstandingofthescienceandaregeneratinginnovationsinanarrayoffields,includingradioantennas,radar,cosmetics,soundproofingandwallsthathelpprotectagainstearthquakesandtsunamis.但如今，研究人員已經(jīng)更好地了解了這項(xiàng)技術(shù)，正在各個(gè)領(lǐng)域進(jìn)行創(chuàng)新，制造產(chǎn)品，比如無線電天線、雷達(dá)、化妝品、隔音材料，以及能抵御地震和海嘯的墻壁。Lastyear,theaircraftmanufacturerAirbusannouncedthatitwasjoiningwithLamdaGuard,aCanadiancompany,totestametamaterial-basedcoatingforcockpitwindowstoprotectpilotsincommercialaircraftfrombeingblindedbylaserpointers.去年，飛機(jī)制造商空客(Airbus)宣布將與加拿大LamdaGuard公司合作，測試一種由超材料制成的駕駛艙窗戶保護(hù)層，以使商用飛機(jī)飛行員的視力免受激光指示器的影響。Akeyinnovationbehindmetamaterialsisthattheyareconstructedwithsubcomponentsthataresmallerthanthewavelengthofthetypeofradiationtheyaredesignedtomanipulate.Theprecise,often-microscopicpatternscanthenbeusedtomanipulatethewavesinunnaturalways.超材料背后的關(guān)鍵創(chuàng)新在于他們是由子部件制成的，這種子部件小于它們將會控制的放射線的波長。這種精密的、通常十分微小的子部件可以用來以非自然的方式控制波動。TheimplicationsofthesenewmaterialscanbeseenintwoprototyperadarantennasbeingdesignedatEchodyne,astart-upfirmherethathasbeenfundedwithbackingfromBillGates,aMicrosoftco-founder,andMadronaVentureGroup.可以從Echodyne正在設(shè)計(jì)的兩種雷達(dá)天線原型機(jī)中看到這些新材料的影響，這家初創(chuàng)公司獲得了微軟(Microsoft)聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人比爾?蓋茨(BillGates汲麥德羅納風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資集團(tuán)(MadronaVentureGroup)提供的資金。Thereareobviousmarketsforthetechnologyinautomotivesafetyandself-drivingcars.Google’sadvancedexperimentalvehiclesuseacostlymechani-blsddserdevicecalledalidartocreateaninstantaneoushigh-resolutionmapofobjectsaroundthecar.Basedonarapidlyspinninglaser,Google’slidarsstillcostroughly$8,000.TheradarsbeingdesignedbyEchodynemaysoonbeabletocreatesimilarmapsatamuchlowercost.汽車安全及自動駕駛汽車方面的技術(shù)明顯存在市場。谷歌先進(jìn)的實(shí)驗(yàn)性汽車能夠利用昂貴的激光機(jī)械設(shè)備——被稱作激光雷達(dá)——創(chuàng)建一份有關(guān)車周圍環(huán)境的即時(shí)高清地圖。在快速旋轉(zhuǎn)激光的基礎(chǔ)上制成的谷歌激光雷達(dá)售價(jià)約為8000美元(約合4.97萬元人民幣)。Echodyne正在設(shè)計(jì)的雷達(dá)可能很快就會創(chuàng)建類似的地圖，但成本會低很多。EchodyneisthethirdmetamaterialscompanytobespunoutofIntellectualVentures,aninvestmentandpatentfirmcreatedbyNathanMyhrvold,aphysicistwhowasMicrosoft7schieftechnologyofficer.Twootherfirms,KymetaandEvolvTechnology,areworkingonothermetamaterial-basedapplications.Echodyne是高智發(fā)明(IntellectualVentures)剝離出來的第三家超材料公司。高智發(fā)明是物理學(xué)家內(nèi)森?梅爾沃德(NathanMyhrvold)創(chuàng)辦的投資和專利事務(wù)所，他曾在微軟公司擔(dān)任首席技術(shù)官。其他兩家公司Kymeta和EvolvTechnology正在研究超材料的其他應(yīng)用方式。Evolvispursuinghigher-performanceairport-security-scanningtechnology,andKymetarecentlyannouncedapartnershipwithIntelsattodesignland-basedandsatellite-basedintelligentantennasthatwouldgreatlyincreasethecapacityandspeedofnext-generationsatelliteInternetservices.Evolv希望開發(fā)出性能更高的機(jī)場安全掃描技術(shù)。Kymeta最近宣布與Intelsat公司合作，共同設(shè)計(jì)一種安裝在地面和衛(wèi)星上的智能天線，可以大大提高下一代衛(wèi)星互聯(lián)網(wǎng)服務(wù)的容量和速度。XiangZhang,aprofessorofmechanicalengineeringattheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley,runsalaboratorythathaspioneeredanumberofapplicationsformetamaterials,includingso-calledoptical"superlenses"thatmayonedaysurpassthepoweroftoday’smicroscopes.張翔是加州大學(xué)伯克利分校的機(jī)械工程教授，他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的實(shí)驗(yàn)室在超材料的很多應(yīng)用中處于前沿位置，其中包括光學(xué)"超級透鏡”，有—天這種透鏡的能力可能會超過目前的顯微鏡。Dr.Zhangsayshehearsfrommanymilitarycontractorsandcommercialcompaniesthatareinterestedinpursuingmetamaterialapplications.張翔說，很多軍事承包商和商業(yè)公司都對超材料的應(yīng)用很感興趣。Severalyearsago,hesaid,hereceivedseveralcallsfromwhathethoughtwasLoralSpace&Communications,amilitarycontractor.HethenlearnedthatthecallerwastheFrenchcosmeticsandbeautyfirmL’Oreal,whichwasinterestedinmetamaterialsthatmightbeusedtochangeappearanceortocreateamoreeffectivesunblock,他說，數(shù)年前，他接到幾個(gè)電話，本以為對方是軍事承包商勞拉空間與通信公司(LoralSpace&Communications),結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)打電話的是法國化妝品公司歐萊雅(L’Oreal),該公司對超材料改變?nèi)梭w形象，或者調(diào)制出更有效的防曬霜的潛力彳艮感興趣。Dr.Zhangandothersarepursuingapplicationsthatcoulddrasticallylowerthecostandincreasetheperformanceofopticalcomputernetworks.張翔等人正在研究如何把超材料應(yīng)用到大幅降低光學(xué)計(jì)算機(jī)網(wǎng)絡(luò)的成本，并提高其性能上。In2012,theBerkeleyNanosciencesandNanoengineeringInstitutepublishedapaperwithSouthKoreanscientistsdescribingametamaterial-basedelectro-opticalmodulatormadefromasheetofgraphenejustasingleatomthickthatwasabletoswitchlightwavesatterahertzfrequencies.2012年，伯克利納米科學(xué)和納米工程學(xué)研究所(BerkeleyNanosciencesandNanoengineeringInstitute)發(fā)表了一篇論文，韓國科學(xué)家在文中描述了一種超材料電光調(diào)節(jié)器，它使用了厚度只有一個(gè)原子直徑的石墨烯片制作，可以用于太赫茲光波的開關(guān)。Morerecently,agroupatCityCollegeofNewYork,ledbythephysicistVinodMenon,demonstratedlightemissionfromultrafast-switchingLEDsbasedonmetamaterials.Together,suchinnovationscouldmakepossibleopticalcomputernetworksfarfasterthantoday7sgigabitnetworks.近來，紐約市立學(xué)院(CityCollegeofNewYork)物理學(xué)家維諾德?梅農(nóng)(VinodMenon)率領(lǐng)的一個(gè)團(tuán)隊(duì)，展示了基于超材料的高速開關(guān)LED的發(fā)光。把這樣的創(chuàng)新結(jié)合起來，就有可能研制出一種光學(xué)計(jì)算機(jī)網(wǎng)絡(luò)，比現(xiàn)在的千兆網(wǎng)絡(luò)遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)更快。Indeedmetamaterialsarestillfindingtheirwayintonewfields.Papershaverecentlybeenpublishedthatexploretheideaofusingmetamaterial-based"walls"todampentheseismicwavesinearthquakesortheeffectsoftsunamis.事實(shí)上，超材料還在陸續(xù)進(jìn)入一些新的領(lǐng)域。最近發(fā)表的一些論文，探索了使用超材料"護(hù)墻”，在地震或海嘯中衰減地震波影響的想法。In2013,scientistsattheFrenchconstructionfirmMenardpublishedapaperon,anautomatedelectr