Invisibility cloak a step closer
An invisibility cloak like Harry Potter's is a step closer
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Monday, 11, Aug 2008 09:28
Scientists say they are one step closer to creating an invisibility cloak after showing that a new material can bend visible light the wrong way for the first time in three dimensions.
The structure of the material bends visible light in a way that ordinary materials cannot.
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, say the material could help to create a cloak that could guide light around an object so that neither a reflection nor a shadow would be created.
Until now scientists had only been able to show light-bending abilities in two dimensional systems.
Reports on the light-bending, published in the journals Nature and Science, say it could lead to a number of applications.
These include 3D optical effects, superlenses and optical tunnelling devices.