"Novel artificial materials (photonic crystals (PCs), negative index materials (NIMs), and plasmonics) enable the realization of innovative EM properties unattainable in naturally existing materials. These materials, called metamaterials (MMs), have been in the foreground of scientific interest in the last ten years. However, many serious obstacles must be overcome before the impressive possibilities of MMs, especially in the optical regime, become real applications.The present project combines NIMs, PCs, and aspects of plasmonics in a unified way in order to promote the development of functional MMs, and mainly functional optical MMs (OMMs). It identifies the main obstacles, proposes specific approaches to deal with them, and intends to study unexplored capabilities of OMMs. The project objectives are: (a) Design and realization of 3d OMMs, and achieve new metasurface designs applying Babinet’s principle. (b) Understanding and reducing the losses in OMM by incorporating gain and EM induced transparency (EIT). (c) Achieving highly efficient PC nanolasers and surface plasmons (SPs) lasers. (d) Use chiral MMs and SPs to reduce and manipulate Casimir forces, and (e) Using MMs, combined with nonlinear materials, for THz generation, and tunable response.(f)Calculate electron- phonon scattering and edge collisions in graphene and in graphene-based molecules. The unifying link in all these objectives is the endowment of photons with novel properties through imaginative use of EM-field / artificial-matter interactions. Some of these objectives seem almost certainly realizable; others are more risky but with higher reward if accomplished; some are directed towards new specific applications, while others explore new physical reality.The accomplishment of those objectives requires novel ideas, advanced computational techniques, nanofabrication approaches, and testing. The broad expertise of the PI and his team, and their pioneering contributions to NIMs, PCs, and plasmonics qualifies them for facing the challenges and ensuring the maximum possible success of the project."