Researchers Cracked How to Make 'Invisibility Cloaks' the Size of a Fighter Jet

[Dragon029]

Every now and then a story comes around that so-and-so scientist has developed a real invisibility cloak, and fantasy fans run out to update their Awesome Harry Potter Magic Things That Now Exist list (most recent addiction: the golden snitch.) But for all the disparate ongoing attempts to perfect stealth technology, it's still not possible to fully cloak an object from the naked eye. Part of the problem, up until recently, has simply been a matter of scale. Scientists have known for years that metamaterials made from synthetic textiles can be used to to control the propagation of light. The artificial material bends light around an object, rendering it invisible to certain wavelengths. But, they could only fabricate the stuff in microscopic sizes.
Now, a team of researchers at the University of Central Florida, led by Debashis Chanda, have perfected a nanotransfer printing technique that makes it possible to create larger swaths of the metamaterial—about four by four inch squares. From there, multiple pieces can be stitched together with an automated tool to create a very large area of coverage, Chanda explained in an email.

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/researchers-cracked-how-to-make-invisibility-cloaks-the-size-of-a-fighter-jet

 

[J.A.W.]

Any admission of historical links to Brown/Tesla, Heinlein/Asimov & experiments @ the Philadelphia Navy Yard?

 

[Arjen]

Wasn't that cracked ages ago with the SEP-field?

 

[bring_it_on]

...

 

[sublight_]

Does optical stealth on visible wavelengths even matter? Secondly these nano structures aren't going to survive at even subsonic speeds. I don't think it's completely worthless, but for most frequencies it will likely be physically impracticable because of the fragility issues.

 

[Sundog]

Does optical stealth on visible wavelengths even matter? Secondly these nano structures aren't going to survive at even subsonic speeds. I don't think it's completely worthless, but for most frequencies it will likely be physically impracticable because of the fragility issues.

You're assuming those nano-particles won't be covered by a material that would allow most of the light to pass through it, but protect the nano-particles from the environment. The question, I think, would be "how invisible" does it have to be? If they reduce the ability to see it by 75%, as opposed to being completely invisible, how much advantage do you gain? In much the same sense that stealth aircraft aren't invisible to RADAR, they just greatly reduce the detection range.

 

[The Artist]

Wasn't that cracked ages ago with the SEP-field?

I wouldn't know. I don't follow such things too closely. I tend to think of them as someone else's problem.