Researchers have designed and built the first 3D device that can make objects invisible to heat, an advance that could transform how we protect sensitive electronics, manage heat in microchips and shield equipment from thermal detection.
The new thermal cloak can hide objects of almost any shape from infrared cameras while also protecting them from extreme temperatures. Unlike previous designs, which worked only in two dimensions or from a single direction, the cloak works from essentially any direction. Rather than simply blocking heat, thermal cloaking guides heat around an object so that, to an infrared camera, it appears as if nothing is there.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign civil and environmental engineering professor Shelly Zhang, postdoctoral researcher Weichen Li and graduate student Yibo Wang collaborated with professor Ole Sigmund at the Technical University of Denmark on the study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications.
"A real thermal cloak should work no matter where the heat comes from," Zhang said. "Our device can hide a complex 3D object in an infinite number of directions while keeping the temperature inside stable and protected."
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