Lenses, cloaks and Transformation Optics (TO) —Myths, mysteries and practical realities

Perhaps no other “new” topic has elicited so much interest in Electromagnetics in recent years as has Transformation Optics (TO). This is apparent from the flood of publications in both Engineering and Physics journals devoted to topics related to Optics, Electromagnetics and Antennas. In this talk we begin by reviewing the fundamentals of TO, but interpreting the transformation algorithm in layman's terms that anyone without an in-depth background in the subject area can readily grasp. We then introduce an alternative paradigm, called the FT algorithm, to design blankets for scatterers, as well as flat lenses that replace hyperbolic and spherical lenses of conventional type. Performance comparisons of TO- and FT-based designs will also be presented.