A simple design of an artificial electromagnetic black hole

We conduct a rigorous study on the properties of an artificial electromagnetic black hole for transverse magnetic modes. A multilayered structure of such a black hole is then proposed as a reduced variety for easy experimental implementations. An actual design of composite materials based on the effective medium theory is given with only five kinds of real isotropic materials. The finite element method confirms the functionality of such a simple design. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3485819]