Scientists at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) have developed a new cloak, using a nano-particle composite material that has the ability to make objects "disappear".
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated a practical cloaking device that can make curved objects appear flat to electromagnetic waves. The material manipulates radio waves so that they don't appear on screens.
The researchers coated a curved surface with a nanocomposite material, which has seven distinct layers with electrical properties. The electrical property of each layer varies depending on its location, and the effect hides an object that would normally cause waves on the surface to be scattered. The experiment was conducted by coating a cosine-curved metal plate with the material and observing it through a screen.
The original design approach has much broader applications, ranging from microwaves to optics to controlling any kind of electromagnetic surface waves.
Author Yang Hao said: "The design is based on optical transformation, an idea behind the invisibility cloak concept. Previous research has shown that this technique works at a single frequency. However, we can demonstrate that it works at a wider frequency range, making it more useful for other engineering applications, such as nano-antennas and the aerospace industry."
First author Luigi La Spada, said: "The study and manipulation of surface waves is key to developing technological and industrial solutions in the design of real-life platforms, for different fields of application."
Spada added: "We have demonstrated a practical possibility to use nanofabrication to control surface wave propagation through advanced additive manufacturing. Perhaps most importantly, the approach used can also be applied to other physical phenomena described by wave equations, such as acoustics. For this reason, we believe that this work has a large industrial impact."
The results from the findings were published in Scientific Reports on Friday.
