School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science

FDTD Simulations of
Approximate Ground-Plane Cloaks
by Themos Kallos

Themos Kallos, Christos Argyropoulos,

Wei Song, Yang Hao
Today’s Menu

 Appetizer: Introduction to Cloaking

 1st entree: Simplification of Ground-

Plane Cloaks

 2nd entree: Bandwidth Performance

2
Free-Space Cloaking

Schurig et al., Science 2006

Pendry et al., Science 2006 3
Argyropoulos et al., TAP 2009
Ground-Plane Cloaking
• Extreme bending  Extreme materials

• Dispersive & Narrowband

Liu et al., Science 2009 4

Li et al., PRL 2008
Experimental Results

• Microwave (2 cm)

• Infrared (1.5 μm)

• Broadband
Liu et al., Science 2009 5
Valentine et al., Nat. Mat.
Hype Curve
For transformation-based cloaking
Peak of Inflated Expectations
More designs, experiment at MW

Plateau of Productivity

Slope of Enlightenment
Ground-Plane
Optimized, few-layered
Trough of Disillusionment
Narrowband, anisotropic
Technology Trigger
Transf. EM

6
Ground-Plane Cloak Challenges

 Simpler design?

 Free-Space operation?

 Good Bandwidth Performance?

7
Ground-Plane Cloak
Mirage Effect

30

# of cells [%]
(a)
20
10
0
60 80 100 120
Angle [Degrees]

(c) Permitivity Map

0.5 4
y [ m]

2
0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
x [ m]

8
 0.5 1.2

# of cel

y [
10
0 0 1
Cloak Design 60 80 100
Angle [Degrees]
120 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0
x [ m]
0.5 1

(c) Permitivity Map  g xx gMap

(d) Approximate Permittivity xy 
4
gij    4

y [ m]
0.5
y [ m]

0.5
 g yx g yy 
2
2
0 0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m] x [ m]
 ij 1
(b) Anisotropy Map
 1
0.5  ref det gij
y [ m]

1.2

0 1
120 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
x [ m]
30 (b)  gij
Anisotropy Map g xy g yx
m]cells [%]

(a) cosij 
ij
20 (d) Approximate Permittivity Map det( gij ) g xx g yy
0.5
y [ m]
1.2
4 10
0.5 4
y #[ of

2 0 2 0 1
60 80 100 120 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1
0 x [ m]
-1.5 -1 Angle [Degrees]
-0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]
Li and Pendry, PRL 2008 9
(c) Permitivity Map (d) Approximate Permittivity Map
NFDTD Run
• Ground Plane

• w/ object

• w/ cloak

10
 5 Layers
Cloaking Quiz 10 Layers
Layers: The more the merrier?
20 Layers

Effective Medium

Matched Reduced Cloak

R2=2R1

11
Simplified Cloak Design
λ=750 μm
Original
Original Grid
Grid
Original Grid 55
5
m]

0.5
[ m]

0.5 33 • 64x15 Non-Orthogonal Blocks

yy[y[m]

0.5


3
00 11
-1.5
0
-1.5 -1
-1 -0.5
-0.5 00 0.5
0.5 11 1.5
1.5 1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 x [ 0m] 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]
x [ m]
High-Res
High-Res Sampled
Sampled Grid
Grid
High-Res Sampled Grid 55
5 • 80x20 Orthogonal Blocks
m]

0.5
[ m]

0.5 33
y y[y[m]

0.5 37.5 nm x 37.5 nm



3
00 11
-1.5
0
-1.5 -1
-1 -0.5
-0.5 00 0.5
0.5 11 1.5
1.5 1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 xx [[
0m]
m] 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]
Low-Res
Low-Res Sampled
Sampled Grid
Grid
Low-Res Sampled Grid 55
5 • 6x2 Orthogonal Blocks
m]

0.5
[ m]

0.5 33
y y[y[m]

0.5 482.5 nm x 375 nm



3
00 11
-1.5
0
-1.5 -1
-1 -0.5
-0.5 00 0.5
0.5 11 1.5
1.5 1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 xx [[
0m]
m] 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]
High-Res
High-Res Sampled
Sampled GridGrid (Free
(Free Space)
Space)
High-Res Sampled
Kallos Grid
et (Free Space)2009 22
al., PRA
2 12
]m]

0.5
[ m]

0.5 (to appear) 1.5


 Simplified Cloak Design
Embedded in Air
Low-Res Sampled Grid
2
y [ m]

0.5 1.5 • Dispersive

1 min(ε)=0.8
0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]

High-Res Sampled Grid (Free Space)

2
• Ignore dispersive regions
y [ m]

0.5 1.5
1
0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]

Low-Res Sampled Grid (Free Space)

2 • 4x2 Orthogonal Blocks
y [ m]

0.5 1.5
1
0
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]

Kallos et al., PRA 2009 13

(to appear)
 FDTD vs. NFDTD
• FDTD dx = 17 nm

• NFDTD dx ~ 50 nm

Original Grid
5
y [ m]

0.5
3
0 1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]
30 (b) Anisotropy Map
# of cells [%]

(a) High-Res Sampled Grid

20 5
0.5
y [ m]

1.2
y [ m]

10 0.5
3
0 0 1
60 80 100 120 -1.50 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1
Angle [Degrees] -1.5 -1 -0.5
x [ m]0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m]

Low-Res Sampled Grid

(d) Approximate
(c) Permitivity Map Permittivity Map 5
y [ m]

4 0.50.5 4
y [ m]

0.5
y [ m]

3
2 2
0 0
0 -1.5 1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 -1.5 -1 -1 -0.5-0.5 0 0 0.5 0.5 1 11.5 1.5
x [ m] x [ xm][ m]
High-Res Sampled Grid (Free Space)
2
y [ m]

0.5
1.5
0 1
-1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5
x [ m] 14
Low-Res Sampled Grid (Free Space)
Simplified Cloaks
Comparisons

Approximations:

• Ignore anisotropy

• Ignore dispersive values

• Simplified blocks

15
 1
Quantitative Performance

Energy [a.u.]
Ground Plane
No Cloak
Optical Bandwidth 1 0.5 80x20 Cloak

Energy [a.u.]
Ground Plane
80x20 Cloak (dispersive)
No Cloak
4x2 Cloak
0.5 0 80x20 Cloak
0 30 80x20
60 Cloak90
(dispersive)
1 Angle4x2
[deg] 1

[a.u.]
(a) Cloak (c)

Energy [a.u.]
0
0 30 60 1 90 1

[a.u.] Amplitude
Spectral Amplitude [a.u.] Angle [deg]
0.5 0.5
1 0.5 1 0.5
0 0
30 60 90 0 30 60 0 90

Spectral Amplitude Spectral

• High-res cloaks are slightly
0.5 0.5 0 0
Angle [deg] Angle [deg]
400 600 800 1400 1600 1800
better 1 Frequency [THz] 1Frequency [THz]
0 (b) 0 (d)
400 600 800 1400 1600 1800
• Visible spectrum is restoredFrequency [THz] Frequency [THz]0.5
0.5

• Works up to 1600 THz

0 0
400 600 800 1400 1600 1800
187 nm   ~ x / 2 Frequency [THz] Frequency [THz]

Kallos et al., PRA 2009 16

(to appear)
 Energy [a.u.] Spectral Amplitude [a.u.]
1 1

Quantitative Performance 1
Energy [a.u.]
0.5
Spectral Amplitude [a.u.]
1 0.5

Optical Bandwidth 0.5 0 0.5 0

0 20 40 60 80 0 200 400
0 Angle [deg]
0 Frequency [THz]
0 20 40 60 80 0 200 400
1 [deg]
Angle 1
Frequency [THz]

0.5 0.5

0 Ground Plane 0
• Tradeoff between bandwidth 0 20Cloak
No 40 60 80
Angle
80x20 [deg]
Cloak
200 400
Frequency [THz]
600

and design complexity 1

80x20 Cloak (dispersive)
1
4x2 Cloak

0.5 0.5

• Critical at nano-scale optical 0 0

0 20 40 60 80 600 800 1000
devices Angle [deg] Frequency [THz]
1 1

0.5 0.5

0 0
0 20 40 60 80 1400 1600 1800
Angle [deg] Frequency [THz]

17
Free-Space Cloak
Single angle of operation (a)

(b)

Top view

18
Conclusions

 Ground-plane cloaks have less demanding material

parameters

 Simplified designs work for electrically small elements

(dx~λ)

 Bandwidth vs. Complexity

 Directional free-space operation

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timaras.com

Thank you!

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