Broadband omnidirectional invisibility for sound in three dimensions

Abstract

Acoustic cloaks that make object undetectable to sound waves have potential applications in a variety of scenarios and have received increasing interests recently. However, the experimental realization of a three-dimensional (3D) acoustic cloak that works within broad ranges of operating frequency and incident angle still remains a challenge despite the paramount importance for the practical application of cloaking devices. Here we report the design and experimental demonstration of the first 3D broadband cloak capable of cancelling the scattering field near curved surfaces. Unlike the ground cloaks that only work in the presence of a flat boundary, the proposed scheme can render the invisibility effect for an arbitrarily curved boundary. The designed cloak simply comprises homogeneous positive-index anisotropic materials, with parameters completely independent of either the cloaked object or the boundary. With the flexibility of applying to arbitrary boundaries and the potential of being extended to yield 3D acoustic illusion effects, our method may take major a step toward the application of acoustic cloaks in reality and open the avenue to build other acoustic devices with versatile functionalities.