Cloaking

The concept of an invisibility cloak sounds like pure science fiction. But researchers have developed a new device that works in a completely different way to existing technology, neatly sidestepping some past issues and potentially helping to hide everyday objects under everyday conditions.

Metamaterials that cloak people and objects from radar, visible light or infrared are usually thick and heavy, but now engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed an ultrathin, lightweight sheet that absorbs heat signatures and can even present false ones.

Researchers have developed a new technique to make metamaterials with nanoscale structures that can be tuned with strange optical properties. Using DNA-modified gold nanoparticles, the team could change the material's color, opening the door for new sensors or cloaking devices.

Researchers from TU Wien have developed a new process that allows light waves to pass right through a material by projecting a matching wave pattern onto it, actively camouflaging the target from view. The technique could be used as an invisibility cloak, and it might also work on sound waves.

Engineers at Iowa State University may have gotten one step closer to the ability to make objects invisible with the development of what they are calling a flexible, stretchable and tunable meta-skin that can suppress radar detection.

To combat the lower-frequency, directed anti-stealth radar-targeting systems being developed, researchers have developed a thin electronic material that may help hide aircraft from missile-targeting radar.