Ultrathin ultralight acoustic cloak

TL;DR

This paper presents an ultra-thin, lightweight acoustic cloak using metamaterials that combines scattering cancellation with soundproofing, enabling practical protection of human-sized objects in air.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ultra-thin, lightweight acoustic metamaterial cloak that integrates scattering cancellation and soundproofing for practical applications.

Findings

Cylindrical dispersion achieved in ultra-thin (~1mm) metamaterial

Effective soundproofing of the inner volume demonstrated

Cloak suitable for protecting human-sized objects in air

Abstract

Existing designs of transformation acoustic cloaks are not easy to implement in many practical situations because of their large dimensions, while scattering cancellation cloaks do not protect the inner cloak volume. Here we report implementation of an acoustic metamaterial exhibiting cylindrical dispersion in an ultra-thin (~1mm) and ultra-lightweight (~3g) acoustic cloak design intended to protect a human-head-size object in air, which combines scattering cancellation in the far-field with efficient sound proofing of the inner cloak volume.