Thermal superscatterer: amplification of thermal scattering signatures for arbitrarily shaped thermal materials

Abstract

The concept of superscattering is extended to the thermal field through the design of a thermal superscatterer based on transformation thermodynamics. A small thermal scatterer of arbitrary shape and conductivity is encapsulated with an engineered negative-conductivity shell, creating a composite that mimics the scattering signature of a significantly larger scatterer. The amplified signature can match either a conformal larger scatterer (preserving conductivity) or a geometry-transformed one (modified conductivity). The implementation employs a positive-conductivity shell integrated with active thermal metasurfaces, demonstrated through three representative examples: super-insulating thermal scattering, super-conducting thermal scattering, and equivalent thermally transparent effects. Experimental validation shows the fabricated superscatterer amplifies the thermal scattering signature of a small insulated circular region by nine times, effectively mimicking the scattering signature of a circular region with ninefold radius. This approach enables thermal signature manipulation beyond physical size constraints, with potential applications in thermal superabsorbers/supersources, thermal camouflage, and energy management.