The First Invisibility Cloak Could Be Practical In Six Months

It could be man's third most fondest aspiration after the dream of flight and immortality. The power of invisibility could soon become a reality thanks to the use of metamaterials which bend light.

If you are a Star Trek buff then you wouldn’t need a second introduction to the ‘cloaking device’. That’s what gave Captain Kirk and his intrepid crew a few headaches. For long the staple of science fiction, the concept could now just be making an appearance from the pages of science fiction into our real lives. One of the ground breakers in this branch of physics, Sir John Pendry believes that the idea could bear practical realization within the next six months itself. But we might not get it at our nearby retails clothes chain just yet. According to the esteemed physicist, the first such device would be like a ‘carpet’ - place a tiny object underneath it and it will apparently disappear because the bump the object makes will be hidden from view with an artificial mirage.

"I am optimistic work in progress will produce an optical cloak in the next six months.”

Research on the use of meta materials i.e. materials that are so designed with the intention of bending light and electromagnetic waves around them, have been on for long. You can read some of the previous posts covering this exciting area in Digital Journal itself. The use of meta materials is exciting in itself because of the numerous uses they offer. These materials could be, in future, be used for developing barriers to prevent waves damaging the shore, acoustic cloaks to reduce noise, stealth systems for the military, and faster telecommunications. It was an inspired idea from Sir John Pendry in 2004 which lead to a phalanx of researchers in the audience, led by David Smith of Duke University to start working on this innovation. The idea of such a device came to Sir Pendry from the Harry Potter films. In 2006 Professor David Smith unwrapped the first cloak, which directed radiation around a copper cylinder, making it invisible to microwave detection. From an idea the workbench and then hopefully to benign applications, it’s an invention which soon will see the light of day. From Wikipedia - Sir John Brian Pendry, is an English theoretical physicist known for his research into refractive indexes and creation of the first practical ‘Invisibility Cloak’. He was head of the department of physics (1998-2001) at Imperial College, London and principal of the faculty of physical sciences (2001-2002). He is an honorary fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.