Ultrathin three-dimensional thermal cloak

Abstract

We report the first experimental realization of a three-dimensional thermal cloak shielding an air bubble in a bulk metal without disturbing the external conductive thermal flux. The cloak is made of a thin layer of homogeneous and isotropic material with specially designed three-dimensional manufacturing. The cloak's thickness is 100 μm while the cloaked air bubble has a diameter of 1 cm, achieving the ratio between dimensions of the cloak and the cloaked object 2 orders smaller than previous thermal cloaks, which were mainly realized in a two-dimensional geometry. This work can find applications in novel thermal devices in the three-dimensional physical space.