Review of Nitzan and Bichler’s "The Global Political Economy of Israel"

The Global Political Economy of Israel is a gripping read, for specialists and non-specialists alike. Amateurs of novel theoretical explorations into the field of political economy will enjoy the authors’ truly original and often controversial analysis of economic phenomena, such as capital accumulation, stagflation, corporate amalgamation and global integration, while readers less versed in economic theory will appreciate the authors’ avoidance of unnecessary jargon and propitious explanations of the terms they use. But the greatest merit of the book undoubtedly lies in its remarkable combination of challenging theoretical analysis and fascinating empirical investigation of the Israeli and US economies, spiced with some delightfully embarrassing details about Israel’s most respectable politicians and businessmen

Flexible Terahertz Metamaterials for Frequency Selective Surfaces

While recent years have seen great advances in the generation, detection, and application of terahertz frequency radiation, this region of the electromagnetic spectrum still suffers from a lack of efficient and effective frequency specific optical components. While such terahertz devices do exist, they are often limited by the materials they are based on and a lack of frequency selectivity and tunability. Metamaterial devices can provide frequency resonant behavior in the form of transmissive and reflective filters. Such a frequency selective surface can also be made tunable via the use of a flexible substrate. In this talk, we will highlight work involving the design, fabrication, and characterization of terahertz metamaterial devices based on flexible substrates. Finite element method simulations have been utilized to design a split-ring resonator (SRR) structure on a flexible SU8 polymer substrate with a targeted 250 GHz resonant response. Multiple configurations of SRR arrays have been fabricated on free standing SU8 substrates. These devices have subsequently been characterized using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and imaging systems. The metamaterial devices have shown selective transmission and reflection over a narrow range of frequencies near the targeted resonance at 250 GHz. Details of both the design, fabrication, and characterization will be discussed

Flexible Terahertz Metamaterials for Frequency Selective Surfaces

While recent years have seen great advances in the generation, detection, and application of terahertz frequency radiation, this region of the electromagnetic spectrum still suffers from a lack of efficient and effective frequency specific optical components. While such terahertz devices do exist, they are often limited by the materials they are based on and a lack of frequency selectivity and tunability. Metamaterial devices can provide frequency resonant behavior in the form of transmissive and reflective filters. Such a frequency selective surface can also be made tunable via the use of a flexible substrate. In this talk, we will highlight work involving the design, fabrication, and characterization of terahertz metamaterial devices based on flexible substrates. Finite element method simulations have been utilized to design a split-ring resonator (SRR) structure on a flexible SU8 polymer substrate with a targeted 250 GHz resonant response. Multiple configurations of SRR arrays have been fabricated on free standing SU8 substrates. These devices have subsequently been characterized using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy and imaging systems. The metamaterial devices have shown selective transmission and reflection over a narrow range of frequencies near the targeted resonance at 250 GHz. Details of both the design, fabrication, and characterization will be discussed

Bending Induced Tuning of the Resonant Response of a Flexible THz Metamaterial Device

The effects of bending a 2-dimensional planar array of rectangular split-ring resonators (SRRs) is observed by mounting the array to varying diameter HDPE cylinders. By studying the transmission of pulsed THz light through the SRR-cylinder system, it shown that the resonant frequency and response of the arrays are tunable as a function of the radius of curvature

Bending Induced Tuning of the Resonant Response of a Flexible THz Metamaterial Device

The effects of bending a 2-dimensional planar array of rectangular split-ring resonators (SRRs) is observed by mounting the array to varying diameter HDPE cylinders. By studying the transmission of pulsed THz light through the SRR-cylinder system, it shown that the resonant frequency and response of the arrays are tunable as a function of the radius of curvature