Scientists develop effective Harry Potter-like 'invisibility cloak'

A new ultra-thin invisibility cloak has been successfully tested to hide a microscopic object from detection with visible light. The new device, the scientists claim, could be developed for military applications to make vehicles, aircraft or soldiers "invisible."

The cloak is made up of microscopic rectangular gold blocks, which works like a skin, adapting the shape of the object being covered. Composed of extremely thin layer of light-scattering antennae, the cloak allows light to bounce off an object like a flat mirror, which makes it optically undetectable.

However, the report, published in the journal Science, stated that the invisibility device is yet only capable to hide microscopic objects. The developers tested the cloak by wrapping around a miniscule 3D object.

The test is the first time that a 3D object with bumps and dents has been hidden from visible light, said Xiang Zhang, director of the Materials Sciences Division of the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in a press release. He added that the ultra-thin cloak looks like a coat, which is easy to design and implement, that could potentially be developed for hiding larger objects.

However, Zhang said that the technology would take five to 10 years to be practical to use. The device uses metamaterials, different from natural materials, which can bend or curve the reflection of light by following the structure of the object being cloaked rather than its chemical composition.

"The fact that we can make a curved surface appear flat also means that we can make it look like anything else. We also can make a flat surface appear curved," said Xingjie Ni, the study's lead author and a professor of electrical engineering at the Penn State University.

The new device follows two previous experimental microscopic cloaks, which were found to have problems on working on larger objects. The new work, Zhang said, is possible to be used to cloak people.

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