We explore in detail the concept of mantle cloaking, showing that a single, ultrathin, conformal metasurface may drastically suppress the scattering from planar [one-dimensional (1D)], cylindrical [two-dimensional (2D)], and/or spherical [three-dimensional (3D)] objects. We propose realistic designs that may realize this concept at radio (RF) or far-infrared (FIR) frequencies. In addition we discuss properties and physical insights of this cloaking functionality compared to other available techniques involving bulk metamaterials, showing exciting potentials in terms of ultralow-profile, light-weight, and bandwidth of operation. These results may be of great interest for low-observability, camouflaging, noninvasive probing, and low-noise communication applications.

• Received 25 May 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.84.205110