  Transformation optics aims to identify artificial materials and structures
with desired electromagnetic properties by means of pertinent coordinate
transformations. In general, such schemes are meant to appropriately tailor the
constitutive parameters of metamaterials in order to control the trajectory of
light in two and three dimensions. Here we introduce a new class of
one-dimensional optical transformations that exploits the mathematical
framework of supersymmetry (SUSY). This systematic approach can be utilized to
synthesize photonic configurations with identical reflection and transmission
characteristics, down to the phase, for all incident angles, thus rendering
them perfectly indistinguishable to an external observer. Along these lines,
low-contrast dielectric arrangements can be designed to fully mimic the
behavior of a given high-contrast structure that would have been otherwise
beyond the reach of available materials and existing fabrication techniques.
Similar strategies can also be adopted to replace negative-permittivity
domains, thus averting unwanted optical losses.
