Patent ID: 7570409

Claim:
A method for modulating electromagnetic radiation, comprising: directing an incident radiation beam toward a surface of a composite material, the composite material having an arrangement of electromagnetically reactive cells of small dimension relative to a wavelength of the incident radiation beam, at least one of an effective permeability and an effective permittivity of the composite material being negative for at least one frequency; receiving a reflected radiation beam resulting from at least partial reflection of the incident radiation beam from said surface; applying a modulation signal at a first value, the reflected radiation beam having an intensity that is a first percentage of an intensity of the incident radiation beam; and applying a modulation signal at a second value such that at least one of said effective permeability and said effective permittivity are more negative than at said first value of said modulation signal, the intensity of the reflected radiation beam being a second percentage of the incident radiation beam intensity less than said first percentage at said second value of said modulation signal.