A Look at Electromagnetic Field Transformation using Transformation Optics (TO), Wave Equation and Scattering Matrix Formalisms

Authors:Raj Mittra, Yuda Zhou and Pengfei Zhang

Source:FERMAT, Articles, 2016-Vol15-May_Jun-004


Abstract:The main objective of this paper is to take a look at Electromagnetic Field Transformation from the Wave Equation point of view, which is slightly different from the traditional one based on the Transformation Optics (TO) approach, as we explain below. We begin with a review of Transformation Optics (TO), which provides a novel paradigm for designing a whole host of electromagnetic devices by using geometry transformation. The underlying concepts of TO as well as its theoretical foundations are well established, thanks to the pioneering works of a number of leading researchers, which date back to 2006. In this paper we examine the realizability issue of the materials, prescribed by the TO, from a practical point of view and identify some difficulties we may encounter in the process of fabricating electromagnetic devices such as cloaks and microwave antennas following the TO prescription. Next, we introduce a Wave-equation-based (WEB) approach to field transformation to examine whether we could mitigate the problems encountered with the TO that we mentioned above. Finally, we introduce the Generalized Scattering Matrix (GSM) concepts of Field Transformation, and we use it to modify the performance metrics of the devices in order to render them realizable by using available materials, without the need to use Metamaterials that are often lossy, narrowband, and polarization-dependent.

Index Terms:Electromagnetic Field Transformation; Transformation Optics (TO); Wave Equation; Scattering Matrix Formalisms.


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A Look at Electromagnetic Field Transformation using Transformation Optics (TO), Wave Equation and Scattering Matrix Formalisms