Observation of 2D omnidirectional invisibility from an electrically large cluster under TE polarization

The concept of perfect invisibility in free space implies an object neither reflects nor refracts optical waves coming from arbitrary directions, regardless of its shape and size. An optimal solution to realize such a peculiar phenomenon is to tune the constitutive parameters of the object to be identical to air. In particular, to render zero extinction from an existing object by covering some additional structures, is of importance for practical implementations, which is challenging. Here, we demonstrate and propose that a thin metallic wire can be tuned to be air-like under TE polarization, with the aid of an external enclosure. This is achieved through a precise dispersion engineering with independently controllable electric and magnetic responses. Consequently, an electrically large cluster composed of multiple thin wires can be safely hidden in free space, without any macroscopic cloaking structure, which is verified by full-wave simulations and experiments. The measured results on an electrically large airplane-like sample show the excellent performance of 2D omnidirectional invisibility at the designed frequency. This proposed metamaterial would be helpful in enhancing the mechanical stability, electrical conduction, and heat dissipation of a device (or system) by extra wires (or pipes), without disturbing its electromagnetic characteristics.