Metamaterials, or engineered materials with rationally designed,   
   subwavelength-scale building blocks, allow us to control the behavior of   
   physical fields in optical, microwave, radio, acoustic, heat transfer, and   
   other applications with flexibility and    
   performance that are unattainable with naturally available materials. In turn,   
   metasurfaces—planar, ultrathin metamaterials—extend these capabilities even   
   further. Optical metasurfaces offer the fascinating possibility of controlling   
   light with surface-   
   confined, flat components. In the planar photonics concept, it is the reduced   
   dimensionality of the optical metasurfaces that enables new physics and,   
   therefore, leads to functionalities and applications that are distinctly   
   different from those    
   achievable with bulk, multilayer metamaterials. Here, we review the progress   
   in developing optical metasurfaces that has occurred over the past few years   
   with an eye toward the promising future directions in the field.   
      
   http://phys.org/news/2013-03-metasurfaces-usher-optical-technologies.html   
      
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