Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    Menu
    Natural Sciences
    Health
    History & Humanities
    Space & Astronomy
    Technology
    Culture
    Resources
    Natural Sciences

    Physics

    • Matter and Energy
    • Quantum Mechanics
    • Thermodynamics

    Chemistry

    • Periodic Table
    • Applied Chemistry
    • Materials
    • Physical Chemistry

    Biology

    • Anatomy
    • Biochemistry
    • Ecology
    • Genetics
    • Microbiology
    • Plants and Fungi

    Geology and Paleontology

    • Planet Earth
    • Earth Dynamics
    • Rocks and Minerals
    • Volcanoes
    • Dinosaurs
    • Fossils

    Animals

    • Mammals
    • Birds
    • Fish
    • Reptiles
    • Amphibians
    • Invertebrates
    • Pets
    • Conservation
    • Animals Facts

    Climate and Weather

    • Climate Change
    • Weather and Atmosphere

    Geography

    Mathematics

    Health
    • Drugs
    • Diseases and Conditions
    • Human Body
    • Mind and Brain
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Wellness
    History & Humanities
    • Anthropology
    • Archaeology
    • Economics
    • History
    • People
    • Sociology
    Space & Astronomy
    • The Solar System
    • The Sun
    • The Moon
    • Planets
    • Asteroids, Meteors and Comets
    • Astronomy
    • Astrophysics
    • Cosmology
    • Exoplanets and Alien Life
    • Spaceflight and Exploration
    Technology
    • Computer Science & IT
    • Engineering
    • Inventions
    • Sustainability
    • Renewable Energy
    • Green Living
    Culture
    • Culture and Society
    • Bizarre Stories
    • Lifestyle
    • Art and Music
    • Gaming
    • Books
    • Movies and Shows
    Resources
    • How To
    • Science Careers
    • Metascience
    • Fringe Science
    • Science Experiments
    • School and Study
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science → Physics

Scientists cloak 3D object in microwave spectrum

Tibi Puiu by Tibi Puiu
January 26, 2012
in Physics, Research

The much dreamed off invisibility cloak is just a few tiny steps away, after remarkable research in the field, many backed by military interests, have sparked some amazing advances. In the last few years alone, scientists have managed to successfully cloak various objects either using meta-materials that bent light around an object to conceal it or electrically stimulated nanotubes which cause the human eye to perceive a mirage-like effect and thus conceal the object. Just a few weeks ago, scientists manage to hide an event in time after they developed a time cloak.

Microwaves can be seen being blocked and scattered without (l), and
Microwaves can be seen being blocked and scattered without (l), and "reconstructed" (r) with the cloak

However, we’re still in a highly incipient state as far as a full-on invisibility cloak in its all rightful manner is concerned. You see, these devices are only capable of rending a particular object only in 2D, from a particular angle, which although doesn’t seem particularly useful, it’s still been a remarkable progress. Now, in a recently published paper, University of Texas scientists describe how they’ve been able to use plasmonic meta-materials to make an 18-inch cylindrical tube invisible – a full 3-D cloak.

What we actually perceive with our eyes is actually information transmitted by light which bounces off objects in our surroundings, as its constituent atoms absorb, transmit or reflect electric and magnetic fields. One might say that the world around us, as we visually see it, is not the real one, but its reflection. Bearing in mind this, if one can manipulate or stop light from bouncing off an object altogether, than that object would become invisible.

” That means the object is invisible, from any angle of observation.

“This object’s invisibility is independent of where the observer is,” Professor Andrea Alu, the study’s co-author, tells Danger Room. “So you’d walk right around it, and never see it.”

Plasmonic materials can be designed to have effects on the fields that are precisely opposed to those of the object, and thus cancel out the light scattering from an object. When the plasmonic shell was coated on a cylinder, the two cancelled each other out, and became invisible in the high-frequency wavelengths, like the microwave spectrum – it remained perceivable as always in the visual wavelength spectrum, however.

The plasmonic material shell is, in essence, a photo-negative of the object being cloaked, so for this to work the shell needs to be tailored specifically for the object to be cloaked. Cloaking in visible light, hiding more complex shapes and materials, is still extremely distant, however these recent advances, with this latest one to bolster as well, proves that it’s far from being impossible.

“We have some ideas to make it work,” Alu says. “But the human eye is not our priority. Right now, we’re focused on improving biomedical imaging.”

 

The study was presented in a recent edition of the New Journal of Physics.

Was this helpful?


Thanks for your feedback!

Related posts:
  1. Scientists devise invisibility cloak [VIDEO]
  2. Microwave metamaterial camera images in real time. It’s only a fraction of the size current devices are
  3. Physicists observe the light spectrum of antimatter for the first time
  4. New, revolutionary metalens focuses entire visible spectrum into a single point
  5. Microwave harvester converts wireless energy into direct current with solar cell-like efficiency
Tags: Invisibilitylight spectrummetamaterialmicrowaveoptical illusionoptics

ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • Reviews
  • More
  • About Us

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Health
    • History and Humanities
    • Space & Astronomy
    • Culture
    • Technology
    • Resources
  • Reviews
  • More
    • Agriculture
    • Anthropology
    • Biology
    • Chemistry
    • Electronics
    • Geology
    • History
    • Mathematics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Economics
    • Paleontology
    • Physics
    • Psychology
    • Robotics
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2021 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t you want to get smarter every day?

YES, sign me up!

Over 35,000 subscribers can’t be wrong. Don’t worry, we never spam. By signing up you agree to our privacy policy.

✕
ZME Science News

FREE
VIEW