A 3D optical metamaterial made by self-assembly.

Optical metamaterials have unusual optical characteristics that arise from their periodic nanostructure. Their manufacture requires the assembly of 3D architectures with structure control on the 10-nm length scale. Such a 3D optical metamaterial, based on the replication of a self-assembled block copolymer into gold, is demonstrated. The resulting gold replica has a feature size that is two orders of magnitude smaller than the wavelength of visible light. Its optical signature reveals an archetypal Pendry wire metamaterial with linear and circular dichroism.