Harry Potter invisibility cloaks are a step closer to reality
Scientists create a device that can turn people 'fully' invisible for the first time
It may seem like pure fantasy, but a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak is now a step closer to reality.
Scientists in Canada have created a cloaking device capable of making an object 'fully' invisible for the first time, even in natural light. Up until now, efforts at making a cloaking device have failed because they don't work in all wave lengths of light.
The 'spectral cloaking' device is different because it works by cancelling out the imprint an object leaves in a light wave that passes through it. The energies of certain colours are shifted by a sheet of optical fibre as they hit the object. As a result, the wave which reaches the observer is almost the same as the wave on the other side, causing the object to appear 'invisible' in daylight.
As well as hiding people, researchers claim the breakthrough could pave the way for radar-proof aircraft and hack-proof internet cables.
Invisibility powers have long been a staple of popular culture and physicists have been trying to replicate the results.
Existing techniques use metamaterials, which are structures that bend the path of light around the object they are trying to hide. This technique struggles to cope with a range of different frequencies, such as the different colours of light. It also distorts the wave so the end result doesn't appear convincing.
Researchers from the National Institute of Scientific Research in Canada sought to overcome this. The full findings of the study were published in the journal Optica.