Electric Levitation Using ε-Near-Zero Metamaterials

The ability to manufacture metamaterials with exotic electromagnetic properties has potential for surprising new applications. Here we report how a specific type of metamaterial-one whose permittivity is near zero-exerts a repulsive force on an electric dipole source, resulting in levitation of the dipole. The phenomenon relies on the expulsion of the time-varying electric field from the metamaterial interior, resembling the perfect diamagnetic expulsion of magnetostatic fields. Leveraging this concept, we study some realistic requirements for the levitation or repulsion of a polarized particle radiating at any frequency, from microwave to optics.