Purdue research reveals scientific keys to possible invisibility, optical cloaks
>>Print ViewPublication Date: 04/03/2007
sponsored by
Beyond the ability to fly and have super strength, every child's dream of being invisible could become a reality.
Research at Purdue has discovered a way to bend and refract light, rendering objects somewhat invisible. This "optical cloak," however, is still theoretical and can only block one wave of light in the visible spectrum.
But, with more research and a little more money, Vladimier Shalaev and his research team could make objects completely invisible.
"The subject of invisibility is so fascinating in literature and mythology that the question was, is it true or is it just fantasy?" said Shalaev, the Robert and Anne Burnett professor of electrical and computer engineering. "Everyone wants to think it is fantasy, including myself, until recently. I was surprised it could be real."
Their research shows that a device could block any one wave length of light, but not all. The theoretical device looks like a round hairbrush, which would bend light around the cloaked object.
H.G. Wells' "The Invisible Man" and Stan Lee's "The Invisible Woman" more or less described the correct way to make something or someone invisible, said Shalaev. But, they did not describe the scientific method and that's what Purdue researchers have done, he said.
Other researchers have found ways to make objects invisible on microwave wave lengths, but they are for small objects. Shalaev said their research proposes invisibility for any object, including humans.
Shaleav's research, which also includes assistance from other scientists and engineers' findings, will be published in a paper in April.
Ulf Leonhardt, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, wrote a commentary for the paper.
"Any object you put inside will disappear as if dissolved in air, provided it is viewed through polarized tinted glasses of precisely that color," wrote Leonhardt in the commentary, from a press release.
Shalaev is still surprised at their work and how invisibility is a real possibility for the future.
"There is much more work to be done," said Shalaev. "But, for now, it appears invisibility is scientifically possible."