Design of Two-Dimensional Transient Circular Thermal Cloaks with Imperfect Interfaces.

In this paper, analytic modeling for the design of a transient thermal invisibility cloak with imperfect interfaces is presented together with numerical simulations. In contrast to steady-state conditions, it is shown that an object can only be made partially invisible under a transient-state condition with either ideal or imperfect interfaces. The thermal visibility of an object to the external region can be optimally suppressed under certain conditions referred to as the "weak invisibility conditions" for the transient response, which are different from the "strong invisibility conditions" that can completely conceal an object in a steady state. In the formulation, a homogeneous metamaterial with constant volumetric heat capacity and constant anisotropic conductivity tensor is employed. It can be demonstrated that the interface's bonding conditions will have a significant effect on the design of metamaterials. Two typical types of imperfect interfaces, referred to as low-conductivity- and high-conductivity-type interfaces, are considered. Conditions, that render an object mostly undetectable, are analytically found and expressed in simple forms under quasi-static approximations. Within the quasi-static limit, the thermal localization in the target region can be tuned with the anisotropy of the conductivity tensor. Thermal shielding or concentrating effects in the target region are exemplified based on finite element simulations to demonstrate the manipulation of heat flux in the target region. The present findings make new advances in theoretical fundamentals and numerical simulations on the effect of the imperfect interface in the transient regime and can serve as guidelines in the design of thermal metamaterials through the entire conduction process.

Novel connections and physical implications of thermal metamaterials with imperfect interfaces.

Thermal metamaterials are of great importance in advanced energy control and management. Previous studies mainly focused on interfaces with perfect bonding conditions. In principle, imperfectness always exists across interface and the effect is intriguingly important with small-length scales. This work reports the imperfect interface effect in thermal metamaterials thoroughly. Low conductivity- and high conductivity-type interfaces are considered. We show that an object can always be made thermally invisible, with the effect of imperfect interface, as that of a homogeneous background material. This unprecedented condition is derived in an exact and analytic form, systematically structured, with much versatile and physical implications. Conditions for thermal shielding and enhancements are analytically found and numerically exemplified, highlighting the specific role of material and geometric parameters. We find that both types of interfaces are complementing with each other which, all together, will constitute a full spectrum to achieve the thermal invisibility. The analytic finding offers a general perception that adds to the understanding of heat transport mechanism across interfaces in thermal metamaterials, in ways that drastically distinct from that of ideal interfaces. This finding opens up new possibilities for the control and management of thermal metamaterials with imperfect bonding interfaces.

Equivalent configurations of optical transformation media.

We demonstrate that a medium consisting of two adjoining distinct layers of transformation materials, corresponding respectively to two linear coordinate transformations, can behave effectively as that of the same region transformed by another linear transformation. The equivalence means that, irrespective of the direction of incident wave, the fields of the medium exterior to the transformed regions of the two configurations are exactly the same. This property can also apply to a domain that is transformed by a piecewise linear transformation function, and to a medium that is mapped by a general curved function. This proof is shown analytically based on a rigorous Fourier-Bessel analysis. The equivalence suggests that, for a given transformed domain, one can find an infinite number of complementary media that altogether can give a desired effective response of certain transformation path.

Invisibility cloak with a twin cavity.

We study an invisibility cloak with a twin cavity, simulated by a plane algebraic curve-hippopede. The cloaked region, which looks like eight for some sets of geometric parameters, is expanded from one single point. Using a geometric transformation approach, we demonstrate that the material parameters of cloaking layer can be exactly determined. Numerical simulations show that the incoming rays pass in and out the cloaking region twice, and return to their original trajectory outside the curved cloak. A notable feature is that the cloaking region has two hollow regions in which two objects can be hidden at one time and that they could not perceive each other.