Two researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Millimeter
Waves at Southeast University from Nanjing, China, have
discovered and prototyped a device that acts like a black hole
for electromagnetic waves in the microwave spectrum. It consists
of 60 concentric rings of metamaterials, a class or ordered
composites that can distort light and other waves. Qiang Cheng
and Tie Jun Cui called their device “omnidirectional
electromagnetic absorber”. The 60 rings of circuit board are
arranged in concentric layers and coated in copper. Each of the
layers is printed with alternating patterns, which resonate or
don’t resonate in electromagnetic waves. What is indeed very
amazing is that their device can spiral 99% of the radiations
coming from all directions inside it and convert them into heat,
acting like an “electromagnetic black body” (or “hole”). The
omnidirectional electromagnetic absorber could be used in
harvesting the energy that exists in form of electromagnetic
waves and turn them into usable heat. Of course,