Boffins make objects invisible

Posted on 15 Sep 2008 at 15:34

Harry Potter's fictional invisibility cloak could one day become a reality thanks to pioneering work being undertaken by research scientists at the University of Granada in Spain.

The team, led by professors Jorge Andr?Port?Alfonso Salinas and Juan Antonio Morente, has used a numerical technique known as Transmission Line Matrix (TLM) modelling to make an object inside an electromagnetic simulator invisible at a certain light frequency.

Core to the project is the development of a new condensed TLM node to model meta-materials. This TLM simulation, which can render objects invisible, is composed of alternating isotropic layers, imitating an anisotropic frame.

"This new prospect leaves the usual TLM process virtually untouched; specifically, the delivery matrix is exactly the same used in classic environments, which provides a lot of flexibility," the researchers said.

According to the team, the studies will help "to achieve invisibility to radars and even to the human eye". They note that the development of more powerful computers has helped to fuel a growing interest for electromagnetic invisibility over the last few years.

The research has been carried out in collaboration with scientists of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has been recently published in two papers in the journal Optics Express.

This research work is part of the doctoral thesis carried out by Cedric Blanchard, another researcher from the university who is finishing off his education in the United States.

Author: Robert Jaques

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