Creation of Ghost Illusions Using Metamaterials in Wave Dynamics

TL;DR

This paper presents a metamaterial-based device that creates wave-dynamic ghost illusions, transforming the perceived position and nature of objects for applications in camouflage, security, and optical manipulation.

Contribution

The authors propose and experimentally realize a ghost illusion device using inhomogeneous, anisotropic metamaterials to generate virtual ghost images in wave dynamics.

Findings

Successfully created ghost images with different geometries and compositions

Validated the scattering metamorphosis theory through experiments

Enabled wave-dynamic illusions for advanced optical and microwave applications

Abstract

The creation of wave-dynamic illusion functionality is of great interests to various scientific communities, which can potentially transform an actual perception into the pre-controlled perception, thus empowering unprecedented applications in the advanced-material science, camouflage, cloaking, optical and/or microwave cognition, and defense security, etc. By using the space transformation theory and engineering capability of metamaterials, we propose and realize a functional ghost illusion device, which is capable of creating wave-dynamic virtual ghost images off the original object's position under the illumination of electromagnetic waves. The scattering signature of the object is thus ghosted and perceived as multiple ghost targets with different geometries and compositions. The ghost-illusion material, being inhomogeneous and anisotropic, was realized by thousands of varying unit cells working at non-resonance. The experimental demonstration of the ghost illusion validates our theory of scattering metamorphosis and opens a novel avenue to the wave-dynamic illusion, cognitive deception, manipulate strange light or matter behaviors, and design novel optical and microwave devices.