Invisibility Cloak
30 May 2006, 12:44
Categories: optics--photonics
On May 14, 2006, we posted an article on two scientists that claimed it is possible to cloak objects, making them invisible. One way to construct the cloaking device would be to use a superlens made of recently discovered materials that force light to behave in unusual ways. Professor John Pendry, of Imperial College London, has helped pioneer superlenses and is now working with David Smith and David Schurig of Duke University to design metamaterials that can bend light around an object no matter what direction the light is coming from. “You can apply it to any shape,” says Smith, “This means that in theory, anything could be cloaked.” For now, the prototype cloak consists of arrays of millimeter-sized copper rods and C-shaped rings embedded in a composite fiber board. “We would like to do it on a molecular scale, but nanoengineering is not yet up to it,” says Pendry. Recent developments in nano-metamaterials, however, could speed the development process up.
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Posted by: The Editors
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