Nanotechnology has enabled the development of nanostructured composite materials (metamaterials) with exotic optical properties not found in nature. In the most extreme case, human can create materials which support light waves that propagate with infinite phase velocity, corresponding to a refractive index of zero. This zero index can only be achieved by simultaneously controlling the electric and magnetic resonances of the nanostructure. Professor Eric Mazur team from Harvard University presents an in-plane metamaterial design, using an integrated nano-scale prism constructed of the proposed material; they demonstrate unambiguously a refractive index of zero in the optical regime. This design serves as a novel on-chip platform to explore the exotic physics of zero-index metamaterials, with applications to super-coupling, integrated quantum optics, and phase matching. This is one of excellent plenary presentations of the 8th SPIE International Symposium on Advanced Optical Manufacturing and Testing Technologies (AOMATT2016) held in Suzhou Conference Center at the end of April, 2016. A Feast Meal on Advanced Optical Manufacturing and Testing is open.

(Photo by GAO Xiaodong)

The AOMATT2016 is sponsored by Chinese Optical Society (COS), Institute of Optics and Electronics(IOE), CAS , and the International Society of Optical Engineering（SPIE）, supported by Ministry of Science and Technology of China, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC). The Institute of Optics and Electronics (IOE, CAS) have hosted seven meetings on this topic.There are 7 other plenary speeches after the opening ceremony and 10 famous scientists and experts are invited to present their talks in different topic sessions, including David R. Silva from US National Optical Astronomy Observatory's, Marc Cayrel from European Southern Observatory, ZHANG Liangchi University of New South Wales, Oltmann Riemer from Bremen University, CHEN Linsen from Suzhou University, Ralf D. Geckeler from German Federal Institute of technology physics, LUO Xiangang from IOE, CAS. Dr. LUO Xianggang from IOE gave a plenary talk on Functional Photonic Nanostructures：From Thin Films and Slits to Catenaries. Besides the relatively mature technologies such as anti-reflection or optical filter based on thin dielectric films, the rapid development of the metallic thin films and nanostructures has been witnessed in recent years, partly because the rise of surface plasmon - the study of the interaction between electromagnetic field and free electrons in a metal. Different from dielectric counterparts, the metallic nano-film possesses many exotic electromagnetic properties, which make them a promising candidate to revise the traditional optics. For example, it has been shown that the surface plasmon excited on the two sides on a metallic thin film can couple together and lead to a dramatically reduction of the effective wavelength. This extremely short-wavelength property enables such films to be used in super-resolution imaging and sub-diffraction lithography. In addition, other experts from all over the world also brought wonderful academic report for the conference. They have made research efforts in optics technology and applications for many years and made outstanding achievements.

Photo by GAO Xiaodong)