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Experimental Demonstration of a Bilayer Thermal Cloak

Tiancheng Han, Xue Bai, Dongliang Gao, John T. L. Thong, Baowen Li, and Cheng-Wei Qiu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 054302 – Published 3 February 2014
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Abstract

Invisibility has attracted intensive research in various communities, e.g., optics, electromagnetics, acoustics, thermodynamics, dc, etc. However, many experimental demonstrations have only been achieved by virtue of simplified approaches due to the inhomogeneous and extreme parameters imposed by the transformation-optic method, and usually require a challenging realization with metamaterials. In this Letter, we demonstrate a bilayer thermal cloak made of bulk isotropic materials, and it has been validated as an exact cloak. We experimentally verified its ability to maintain the heat front and its heat protection capabilities in a 2D proof-of-concept experiment. The robustness of this scheme is validated in both 2D (including oblique heat front incidence) and 3D configurations. The proposed scheme may open a new avenue to control the diffusive heat flow in ways inconceivable with phonons, and also inspire new alternatives to the functionalities promised by transformation optics.

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  • Received 23 August 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.054302

© 2014 American Physical Society

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Thermal Cloaks Get Hot

Published 3 February 2014

Two experiments show that metamaterials can shape the thermal distribution around an object, eliminating its disturbance of the thermal flux.

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Authors & Affiliations

Tiancheng Han1, Xue Bai1,2,3, Dongliang Gao1, John T. L. Thong1,3, Baowen Li2,3,4, and Cheng-Wei Qiu1,3,*

  • 1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117583, Republic of Singapore
  • 2Department of Physics and Centre for Computational Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117546, Republic of Singapore
  • 3NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, National University of Singapore,Kent Ridge 119620, Republic of Singapore
  • 4Center for Phononics and Thermal Energy Science, School of Physics Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 200092 Shanghai, China

  • *chengwei.qiu@nus.edu.sg

See Also

Ultrathin Three-Dimensional Thermal Cloak

Hongyi Xu, Xihang Shi, Fei Gao, Handong Sun, and Baile Zhang
Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 054301 (2014)

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Vol. 112, Iss. 5 — 7 February 2014

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