Modeling and design for electromagnetic surface wave devices

A great deal of interest has reemerged recently in the study of surface waves. The possibility to control and manipulate electromagnetic wave propagations at will opens many new research areas and leads to lots of novel applications in engineering. In this paper, we will present a comprehensive modeling and design approach for surface wave cloaks, based on graded-refractive-index materials and the theory of transformation optics. It can be also applied to any other forms of surface wave manipulation, in terms of amplitude and phase. In this paper, we will present a general method to illustrate how this can be achieved from modeling to the final design. The proposed approach is validated to be versatile and allows ease in manufacturing, thereby demonstrating great potential for practical applications. Plain Language Summary There is a crucial interest in exploring electromagnetic waves traveling on materials surface. The study and manipulation of such waves is the key to develop technological and industrial solutions to reduce and mitigate important issues in the design of real-life platforms, for different application fields, ranging from microwave to optics. We propose a general theory for designing perfect surface wave cloaks; such a theory creates a robust link between truly arbitrary surfaces and their analogue material properties in an intuitive manner. Most importantly, with slight modifications, the underlying theory can be applied to other physical phenomena that are described via wave equations.