A team of scientists from the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) has come a step closer to creating an invisibility cloak. Recently, the team made an object disappear with the help of a material made up of nano-sized particles.
According to the researchers, these nano-sized particles can significantly enhance the properties of the surface of the object. The practical cloaking device created by the device makes curved surfaces appear flat to electromagnetic waves.
While the invisibility cloak made by the researchers might not be the same as the one that Harry Potter had in J.K. Rowling books, the practical cloak made by the team could bring a drastic change to how antennas are attached or tethered to their platform.
According to study author Yang Hao, the invisible cloak design is based on the principles of transformation optics, which is the main idea behind the device. Previously, the research conducted by the researchers indicated that the device can function only at one frequency. However, the recent research proves that it can work at a greater range of frequencies. This, in turn, suggests that it can have a number of applications in the field of engineering, especially in the aerospace industry and in the construction of nano-antennas.
During the study, the researchers covered a curved surface, something like a tennis ball, with a nanocomposite medium. The medium had seven different layers and the electric property of each layer was different from that of the other, depending on the actual position of each layer. According to the researchers, this produces an effect that "cloaks" the object. Such a structure could be effectively used to hide an object in the layers that would have otherwise caused the wave to scatter.
The complete details of the study have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.
