Name: Aetherium
Other names: Green Stuff, Immaterium
Creation: 4023
Creator: Quantum Labs
Uses: Buoyancy devices, insulation, secondary radiation shielding
Aetherium is a green-blue solid composed of disparate silicon-based compounds held in a constant state of flux by innate, interacting electromagnetic fields. Due to it's energetic state, it emits a glow of varying intensity dependent on the arrangement of it's individual particles. The color of Aetherium on the visible spectrum is determined by the molecules present in it's matrix. There are 44 varieties of Aetherium.
It is notable for being lighter-than-air, a perfect resistor, and an inability to conduct heat. It is a worthwhile ionizing radiation absorber though superior materials exist for this task.
As a metamaterial it does not naturally exist. It is produced by focused beam alignment; specialized lasers producing beams with wavelengths of two nanometers (or less) stimulate samples of raw materials. The intensity and motion patterns of the lasers ionize the individual atoms and 'punch out' the majority of them to create an exacting volume of interstitial space between them. The resonance of the ions is ideally balanced.
Because of the amount of control required in this process it is very expensive despite the efficiency of computerization.
A thin layer (less than a micron in thickness) of stabilized amorphous carbonia keeps the aetherium's shape once formed. While not particularly fragile, as a lighter-than-air material it is highly malleable. Furthermore, the constituent ions it is composed of continually attempt to move away from one another (albeit slowly) until the structure is no longer bonded. This is due to an abundance of like charges. This process, specific to aetherium, is described as 'aetheric decay'.
Despite it's charged state it is functionally inert. Aetherium is safe to be exposed to and to handle without protection.