Exciting 'Invisibility Cloak' Created By California Scientists

By R. Siva Kumar - 19 Sep '15 09:04AM

There is an exciting invisibility cloak that has been created, according to a new study published in Science. An experimet has been conducted by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley. It has led to the development of an ultra-thin "invisibility cloak" with layers of thousands of nanoscale dots that would change "reflected light" to make anything under the cloak look flat, according to The Guardian.

"It's the first time we've done arbitrary shape cloaking," said Ziang Zhang, creator of the device. "If you want to cloak people, that is possible with this new work."

The action of invisibility cloaks can be analysed as bending light around objects and making them "unnoticeable", according to NBC News. However, whatever materials are used in this research have not helped to shape them and can have an effect only at narrow angles. On the other hand, Zhang's cloak can be so thin and flexible that it would permit it to fit around objects of various shapes.

"A 50-nanometer-thick layer of magnesium fluoride, which is then coated with tiny, gold antennas that are each 30 nanometers thick, creates the film. Each antenna ranges in size, anywhere from 30 to 200 nanometers long and 90 to 175 nanometers wide," according to hngn.

However, the cloak is not completely invisible. Though it makes objects look flat, even a small movement can destroy the illusion. Much more advancements are required in order to make a true "invisibility cloak" that would make humans look totally invisible.

The cloak can be used in various fields for many cosmetic and military applications, according to Popular Mechanics.

"One application might be in cosmetics," said Zhang. "You can imagine if someone has a fat belly, like me, and he wants to look nice, he could put this layer on and it will look like a six pack."

"Keep in mind, this is an entirely new design, and the advantage for future consumer or even military application is that we're starting from a very, very small size," said Xingjie Ni, lead author of the study.