Conformal Volumetric Grayscale Metamaterials. Issue 12 (31st January 2023)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huang, Qinglan; Gan, Lucia T.; Fan, Jonathan A.
• Is Part Of: Advanced materials. Volume 35:Issue 12(2023)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2023-01-31
• Subjects: conformal materials -- electromagnetic metamaterials -- grayscale -- multifunctional materials; Materials -- Periodicals; Chemical vapor deposition -- Periodicals; 620.11
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.202204688
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0935-9648

Abstract

Abstract: Conformal artificial electromagnetic media that feature tailorable responses as a function of incidence wavelength and angle represent universal components for optical engineering. Conformal grayscale metamaterials are introduced as a new class of volumetric electromagnetic media capable of supporting highly multiplexed responses and arbitrary, curvilinear form factors. Subwavelength‐scale voxels based on irregular shapes are designed to accommodate a continuum of dielectric values, enabling the freeform design process to reliably converge to exceptionally high figures of merit (FOMs) for a given multi‐objective design problem. Through additive manufacturing of ceramic–polymer composites, microwave metamaterials, designed for the radio‐frequency range of 8–12 GHz, are experimentally fabricated and devices with extreme dispersion profiles, an airfoil‐shaped beam‐steering device, and a broadband, broad‐angle conformal carpet cloak, are demonstrated. It is anticipated that conformal volumetric metamaterials will lead to new classes of compact and multifunctional imaging, sensing, and communications systems. Abstract : Conformal volumetric grayscale metamaterials are presented as a new class of artificially structured media capable of multiplexing electromagnetic responses as a function of frequency and incident beam form. These materials can realize new classes of multifunctional devices including conformal microwave carpet cloaks, which render an object invisible to observers for a wide range of probing frequencies and incidence angles.