(July 7, 2015) Researchers
have developed a new design for a cloaking device that overcomes some of the
limitations of existing “invisibility cloaks.” In a new study, electrical
engineers at the University of California, San Diego have designed a cloaking
device that is both thin and does not alter the brightness of light around a
hidden object. The technology behind this cloak will have more applications
than invisibility, such as concentrating solar energy and increasing signal
speed in optical communications.
“Invisibility may seem like magic at first, but its
underlying concepts are familiar to everyone. All it requires is a clever
manipulation of our perception,” said Boubacar Kanté, a professor in the
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs
School of Engineering and the senior author of the study. “Full invisibility
still seems beyond reach today, but it might become a reality in the near
future thanks to recent progress in cloaking devices.”
As their name implies, cloaks are devices that cover objects
to make them appear invisible. The idea behind cloaking is to change the
scattering of electromagnetic waves — such as light and radar — off an object
to make it less detectable to these wave frequencies.