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.
- Received 23 August 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.112.054302
© 2014 American Physical Society
Viewpoint
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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