Invisible Cloak for all measurements
Developed a material that can make objects invisible from all sides. A real breakthrough in its creation was achieved by American scientists. Researchers from Austin University were able to make quite a large object disappear, namely the 18-centimeter cylinder. It became invisible from all sides, despite the angle from which it was observed. Although this happened for the microwave range, the object became invisible in all three dimensions.Previously, scientists used metamaterials to create invisible cloaks. They are set up so that they can change the trajectory of the fall of the waves of light. The light does not hit the object, instead bending around it. Simply put, it bounces off the metamaterial like a tennis ball.
Researcher Andrea Alu from Ostinsky University used plasmon material with a different principle of action. Because of the incident light, quasiparticles are formed, called plasmons, capable of emitting electromagnetic waves on their own. With their participation, a negative image is obtained for the object, similar to an unmanifested film. At the moment of interaction between the object and the plasmon coating, the object becomes invisible due to the counter action of the object and the plasmons.
The result of this work was the disappearance from all angles of the 18-centimeter object, which was in free space. According to Andrea Alu, it was a real object that stood in their laboratory, disappearing completely. But the applied principle does not work for the visible range, scientists have managed to learn how to “dissolve” objects only in the microwave spectrum. And the invisibility cloak itself works only for this cylinder.
However, this does not weaken the enthusiasm of scientists. According to Andrea Alu, there is still a lot of additional research to be done. At the moment, their main task was the demonstration of plasmon material. Alu said that in five years, all invisibility cloaks will be created from this material.
It is also worth recalling the metamaterial researchers from the University of Birmingham, who were able to make the usual paper clip disappear. In their work, a different method was used. To make it invisible, they placed it in front of a complex system consisting of specially bent crystals. In this system, there are certain features of the reflection and refraction of light, which, ultimately, leads to the fact that the real physical object completely disappears from view.
According to Dr. Shuang, in the coming years, it will be possible to surpass the results of previous studies, which allowed "to hide" only micron objects. Very soon, a system will be created that will allow you to make objects invisible, equal in size to humans.
Scientists have been developing optical invisible materials for the past four years. The latest achievement was Meta-flex, which was created by experts from Scotland. This is a thin polymer that allows you to control light waves in the visible range. It has high plasticity. The light falling on it simply "rounds" the subject.
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