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Transformation Electromagnetics and Metamaterials pp 139–165Cite as

Creating Illusion Effects Using Transformation Optics

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Abstract

In this chapter, we show how to create illusion effects using metamaterials. We will see that a passive metamaterial device can be designed such that when it is placed next to or covering an object, the scattered fields of the object and the device together will be changed to be exactly the same as the scattered fields due to another object. Simply put, we can turn an object optically and stereoscopically into another one. For instance, an apple can be made to look like a banana. If we make a measurement of the electromagnetic fields at the designed working frequency, there is no way to distinguish optically between the true object and the illusion. The theory on realizing such an optical illusion effect is called illusion optics. Invisibility can be regarded as a special case of the illusion effect, in which the object is turned optically to a volume of free space. A metamaterial does not need to encircle the object to create the illusion effect. Furthermore, if we use this method to implement invisibility, the “cloaked” object will not be blinded by the cloak as in the cases of normal invisibility cloaks. The design of illusion optics is based on the replacement of optical spaces, where the material parameters are determined using the technique of transformation optics. One unique route to achieve illusion effects is to employ the idea of “complementary media”. Materials designed using “complementary media” typically contain negative refractive index components, and no extreme constitutive parameters values are needed. Slight variations of the scheme can create a variety of interesting illusion effects. For example, we can make an object appear larger in size, rotated, or located at other positions. Illusion optics may lead to some plausible applications, such as small or reduced form-factor optical devices that exhibit the same optical functions as much larger instruments or even “super-absorbers” that can absorb significantly more than their geometric cross-sections.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by Hong Kong CRF grant HKUST2/CRF/11G. LY is supported by the State Key Program for Basic Research of China (No. 2012CB921501), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11104196), Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant No. BK2011277), Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET), and a Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou, China

    Yun Lai

  2. Department of Physics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Jack Ng & C. T. Chan

Authors
  1. Yun Lai
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  2. Jack Ng
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  3. C. T. Chan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to C. T. Chan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Pennsylvania State University, Electrical Engineering East 211A, University Park, 16802, USA

    Douglas H. Werner

  2. University of Massachusetts Amherst, Natural Resources Road Marcus 201 100, Amherst, 01003, USA

    Do-Hoon Kwon

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Lai, Y., Ng, J., Chan, C.T. (2014). Creating Illusion Effects Using Transformation Optics . In: Werner, D., Kwon, DH. (eds) Transformation Electromagnetics and Metamaterials. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4996-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4996-5_5

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-4995-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-4996-5

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