Using ‘artifical atoms’ which bend light researchers have been able to create a cloak like material which when wrapped around an object makes it appear transparent. Australian researchers are now hard at work taking the concept to the next level and are expected to come up with a full invisibility cloak prototype within ten years.
The metamaterial is made up of “kind of artificial atoms”.
“They are a million times bigger than a real atom, and what happens is that these artificial atoms do things that real atoms can’t do.
“They can bend light in strange ways, and that’s where the ‘invisibility cloak’ comes into it. It bends light around the object, rather than bouncing off it,” Dr Powell said.
The result is that the light bypasses the “cloaked” object, hitting the scene behind it instead. This is why the background becomes visible, not the “invisible” object in the foreground.
Source: Race to develop Harry’s invisibility cloak
Dr Ilya Shadrivov showing the material in its early stages (source: How to make an invisibility cloak).
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