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Updated: May 16, 2026
11:57
Fabricating Metamaterials Using the Fiber Drawing Method
Published on: October 18, 2012
Broadband electromagnetic cloaking with smart metamaterials.
Dongheok Shin1, Yaroslav Urzhumov, Youngjean Jung
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Republic of Korea.
Nature Communications
|November 22, 2012
Summary
Researchers developed a novel smart metamaterial cloak that automatically adapts to make objects invisible. This elastic device transforms electromagnetic fields and fabricates itself, paving the way for advanced optical devices.
Area of Science:
- Metamaterials
- Optics
- Electromagnetism
Background:
- Achieving invisibility cloaks that fit all objects and sizes is a significant challenge in optical devices.
- Existing invisibility devices are typically rigid and custom-fitted to specific objects.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate a smart metamaterial cloaking device capable of automatically adapting its properties.
- To explore the use of elastic metamaterials for transformation optics applications.
Main Methods:
- Developed a ground-plane microwave cloak using an elastic metamaterial.
- The metamaterial acquires a gradient-index profile through elastic deformation in response to a boundary load.
- Investigated the cloak's performance over a broad operational band (10-12 GHz).
Main Results:
- The elastic metamaterial cloak successfully transformed electromagnetic fields to render an object invisible.
- The device exhibited a broad operational band and nearly lossless electromagnetic properties.
- The metamaterial achieved a quasi-conformal transformation profile naturally via elastic deformation.
Conclusions:
- The demonstrated smart metamaterial cloak offers a new approach to invisibility devices.
- This hybrid elasto-electromagnetic metamaterial is easy to fabricate.
- The technology enables the development of transformation optics devices based on quasi-conformal maps.
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