An Active Electromagnetic 3D Surface Cloak

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first 3D active electromagnetic surface cloak using a conformal array of radiating sources to cancel scattering, validated through simulations and experiments at 1.2 GHz.

Contribution

It presents the first 3D implementation of an active interior electromagnetic cloak capable of hiding complex objects.

Findings

Successful suppression of scattering in simulations

Experimental validation at 1.2 GHz

Effective cloaking of a conductive cylinder

Abstract

An active interior cloak is composed of a conformal array of radiating sources surrounding a target object. With proper configuration, this array radiates a field discontinuity which cancels out any scattering which occurs when the object is illuminated by an impinging electromagnetic wave. Unlike many other cloaking methods, an interior cloak can be completely constructed using conventional components while its active nature allows it to circumvent passivity-based constraints. This enables an interior cloak to hide an object of virtually any size, shape, and material composition as well as accommodate multiple frequencies and polarizations. Despite its potential, this approach has only been demonstrated on 2D and quasi-2D targets to date. As such, this paper presents the first 3D implementation of an interior cloak. Here, the design of a cloak array capable of hiding a conductive, circular cylinder in free-space is first presented. Cloaking performance is then validated via full-wave simulations and an experimental demonstration in which the device successfully suppresses scattering when the target is illuminated by a ridged horn antenna at 1.2 GHz.