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Metamaterials, so named to recognize and emphasize their purpose, aim to achieve material performance "beyond" the limitations of conventional composites. The holy grail of conventional composite design is to achieve composite properties that are a volumetric average of those of its constituents. One of the goals of this chapter is to outline the strategy of metamaterial design, its hallmark being the exploitation of low dimensionality to extend composite performance. Another goal is to discuss the generality of the metamaterial strategy, and to illustrate its successful implementation in diverse application areas. Finally, the use of metamaterial synthesis to achieve nearly ideal electromagnetic composite responses is discussed. The rules for this approach are illustrated by outlining the design of a laminated electromagnetic composite that possesses some remarkable and previously unobserved properties.
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