Transformation optics

About: Transformation optics is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2687 publications have been published within this topic receiving 102378 citations.

SUSY-inspired one-dimensional transformation optics

Abstract: Transformation optics aims to identify artificial materials and structures with desired electromagnetic properties by means of pertinent coordinate transformations. In general, such schemes are meant to appropriately tailor the constitutive parameters of metamaterials in order to control the trajectory of light in two and three dimensions. Here, we introduce a new class of one-dimensional optical transformations that exploits the mathematical framework of supersymmetry (SUSY). This systematic approach can be utilized to synthesize photonic configurations with identical reflection and transmission characteristics, down to the phase, for all incident angles, thus rendering them perfectly indistinguishable to an external observer. Along these lines, low-contrast dielectric arrangements can be designed to fully mimic the behavior of a given high-contrast structure that would have been otherwise beyond the reach of available materials and existing fabrication techniques. Similar strategies can also be adopted to replace negative-permittivity domains, thus averting unwanted optical losses.

Giant asymmetric transmission of circular polarization in layer-by-layer chiral metamaterials

Abstract: In this paper, two kinds of bi-layered chiral metamaterials were proposed to enhance the asymmetric transmission effects for circular polarized electromagnetic waves which are only found in planar chiral metamaterials according to previous studies. It was found that the magnitude of the asymmetric transmission parameters mainly depends on the distances between the two metal layers. With appropriate distance, the asymmetric transmission parameter for circular polarized electromagnetic waves can increase to 0.6. Moreover, both proposed configurations show no asymmetric transmission for linear polarized electromagnetic waves which is widely studied in other bi-layered metamaterials.

Shrinking an arbitrary object as one desires using metamaterials

Abstract: Based on transformation optics, we present a shrinking device, which can transform an arbitrary object virtually into a small-size object with different material parameters as one desires. Such an illusion device will confuse the detectors or the viewers, and hence the real size and material parameters of the enclosed object cannot be perceived. We fabricated and measured a shrinking device by using metamaterials, which works at the nonresonant frequency and has low loss. The device has been validated by both numerical simulations and experiments on circular and square objects. Good shrinking performance has been demonstrated.

Invisibility exposed: physical bounds on passive cloaking

Abstract: Invisibility cloaks have been one of the major breakthroughs in the field of metamaterials, and several techniques are currently available to suppress the electromagnetic scattering from different objects. So far, however, theoretical and experimental results have consistently shown fundamental challenges in terms of the bandwidth and size of the object to be hidden. Understanding the bandwidth limitations of cloaking therefore becomes important to assess the applicability and potential of cloaking devices in practical scenarios. While it is generally accepted that cloaking is difficult to achieve, no work to date has quantified this issue for general invisibility devices. Here, by applying the Bode–Fano theory of broadband matching, we derive fundamental bounds on bandwidth and performance for general passive cloaking schemes applied to planar objects, determined by the properties of the object to be hidden, and then explore their implications in three-dimensional scenarios. Our results define a general framework to estimate the ultimate performance of passive cloaks and suggest that fundamentally new directions, involving nonlinearities and active metamaterials, become necessary to realize broadband cloaking, opening a new phase in the quest for invisibility.