Isotropic-medium three-dimensional cloaks for acoustic and electromagnetic waves

We propose a generalization of the two-dimensional eikonal-limit cloak derived from a conformal transformation to three dimensions. The proposed cloak is a spherical shell composed of only isotropic media; it operates in the transmission mode and requires no mirror or ground plane. Unlike the well-known omnidirectional spherical cloaks, it may reduce visibility of an arbitrary object only for a very limited range of observation angles. In the short-wavelength limit, this cloaking structure restores not only the trajectories of incident rays, but also their phase, which is a necessary ingredient to complete invisibility. Both scalar-wave (acoustic) and transverse vector-wave (electromagnetic) versions are presented. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3691242]