Ultra-broadband illusion acoustics for space and time camouflages

Abstract

Abstract Invisibility cloaks that can suppress wave scattering by objects have attracted a tremendous amount of interest in the past two decades. In comparison to prior methods that were severely limited by narrow bandwidths, here we present a practical strategy to suppress sound scattering across an ultra-broad spectrum by leveraging illusion metamaterials. Consisting of a collection of subwavelength tunnels with precisely crafted internal structures, this illusion metamaterial has the ability to guide acoustic waves around the obstacles and accurately recreate the incoming wavefront on the exit surface. Remarkably, two ultra-broadband illusionary effects are produced: “disappearing space” and “time shift”. Sound scatterings are removed at all frequencies below a limit determined by the tunnel width, as confirmed by full-wave simulations and acoustic experiments. Our approach establishes a metamaterial platform that enables the long-desired ultra-broadband sound manipulation such as acoustic camouflage and reverberation control, opening up exciting new possibilities in practical applications.