ITMO Researchers Make Objects Invisible Without Metamaterial Coating

A group of researchers have created invisible objects inside a microwave range. Wearing an invisibility cloak is every fantasy-lovers dream. When the blockbuster movie 'Harry Potter' hit the screens, the hero running across Hogwart's hallways hidden under his invisibility cloak, became an ultimate fantasy for the young and old alike. In 2012, Duke University research team came up with an idea of Duke University Creates Invisibility Cloak That Hides Objects With Near Perfection that uses negative refractive index to bend the microwaves around objects. Therefore you could see what’s behind the object, instead of the object itself. Later, University of Texas revealed its amazing research work involving the design of a Harry Potter Like Invisibility Cloak Is Now Battery Powered - The University of Texas Research. This time around, a team of physicists from ITMO University, Ioffe Institute and Australian National University have been successful in developing an invisible homogenous object that doesn't need any metamaterial coating.

Using the newest understanding about electromagnetic wave scattering, the scientists experimented using a glass cylinder filled with ordinary water, whose refractive index can be regulated by changing temperature. The results showed that at some frequencies waves are scattered via resonant and non-resonant mechanisms have opposite phases and are mutually destroyed. Therefore, the object becomes invisible.


Before the arrival of the new light scattering process, it was metamaterials that paved the way for the concept of invisibility in real life. With its capacity to change light's direction in many interesting ways, metamaterial coating became a top choice for researchers for creating light curves around cloaked objects. Since it was difficult to fabricate these coating layers, the concept never really too flight.

Not only is the new method low on costs & simpler to develop, but the possibility of invisible homogenous object (without the need for additional coating layers) is a major achievement from the engineering point of view. The team envisions a day when the same technology is used to develop nano-antennas, where invisible rods become the support for a miniature antenna complex connecting two optical chips - a system that could help reduce disturbances.

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