Broadband focusing and collimation of water waves by zero refractive index

Abstract It is always a challenge to realize extreme and unusual values of refractive index for a broad range of frequencies. We show that when water is covered by a thick, rigid and unmovable plate, it behaves like a medium with zero refractive index for water waves at any frequency. Hence, by covering water with a plate of a concave or rectangular shape, water waves can be focused or collimated in a broad range of frequencies. Experiments were conducted to demonstrate these effects and results are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations.