Hiding a Realistic Object Using a Broadband Terahertz Invisibility Cloak

Abstract

The invisibility cloak has been a long-standing dream for many researchers over the decades. Using transformation optics, a three-dimensional (3D) object is perceived as having a reduced number of dimensions, making it “undetectable” judging from the scattered field12345. Despite successful experimental demonstration at microwave and optical frequencies6789101112, the spectroscopically important Terahertz (THz) domain13141516 remains unexplored due to difficulties in fabricating cloaking devices that are optically large in all three dimensions. Here, we report the first experimental demonstration of a 3D THz cloaking device fabricated using a scalable Projection Microstereolithography process. The cloak operates at a broad frequency range between 0.3 and 0.6 THz, and is placed over an α-lactose monohydrate absorber with rectangular shape. Characterized using angular-resolved reflection THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS), the results indicate that the THz invisibility cloak has successfully concealed both the geometrical and spectroscopic signatures of the absorber, making it undetectable to the observer.