After teleportation and laser beams, invisibility cloaks have long been one of the biggest dreams of science, but just like the first two, they are not that simple to achieve in the real world. However, after Japan’s impressive 2009 attempt, scientists in California have made some even nicer advancements in the field of invisibility.
The new invisibility cloak is ultra-thin and is sprinkled with microscopic gold rectangles. Once the cloak is molded over the human body or any other object for that matter, could render it nearly untraceable to the eye. The research paper was published in the journal Science this week.
The team of researchers claims that their new discovery will bring the idea of invisibility one step closer to reality. They have made experiments involving small objects so far, and they are confident that the technology could be soon applied on larger objects. The technology could have many possible applications, including military use.
According to the scientists, the cloack will only be 80nm thick and it can be wrapped around any object, regardless of its amount of bumps and spines. The invisible cloak’s surface would reflect light waves from any direction, therefore the object will succesfully be undetectable by the human eye. Xiang Zhang, professor at the University of California, Berkeley said that it would take about 5 to 10 years for the technology to reach a practical phase.
Professor Zhang said that they haven’t encountered any potential obstacles in their way until now, but he and his team believe much more work is needed in order to perfect the technology.
Zhang said that the invisibility cloak is made of meta-materials, which are materials that possess properties that are not present in nature. The microscopic rectangular gold particles are in fact smaller than the size of light waves. These gold rectangles have the property of rerouting incoming light waves away from the object they are covering. Think of billions of tiny flat mirrors that reflect every ray of light back to their original direction, rendering the object invisible.
The invisibility cloak could also be adjusted to make flat surfaces appearing curved, or the opposite, said the study’s author, professor Xingjie Ni. He added that the technology could make large objects such as airplanes and tanks invisible, and even more impressive, soldiers.
It sure sounds like the great quest of making the coolest stuff from sci-fi movies is coming to life, doesn’t it?
Photo Credits geograph
