Nonlocal Conduction in a Metawire

Abstract

Abstract Ohm's law of electric conduction is local in the sense that the current density at one position only depends on the electric field at that same position. For a nonlocal medium, the current density at one position depends on the electric field at other positions within the medium as well. As a result of Ohm's law, doubling the length of a wire doubles its resistance. Here, electrically conducting nonlocal architectures are discussed theoretically and experimentally for which changing the length of the metawire rather leads to a complex oscillatory behavior versus wire length. This oscillatory behavior is connected to local currents inside of the metawire flowing in the opposite direction than the externally applied field. The theoretical and experimental results for electric conduction can directly be transferred to thermal conduction or particle diffusion and may enable remote sensing applications.