Nanotechnology and Optical Cloaking
3 April 2007Science fiction’s dream of a cloaking device may be closer to reality now, thanks to some pioneering work done by researchers at Purdue University. The team has a designed a device that uses Nanotechnology to perform a trick of bending and twisting light to cloak objects from view.
The design consists of a spoke-like object with tiny Nano-needles that would twist light around the object being cloaked. The mechanism would enable the background to be visible but not the object surrounded by the tiny needles. Currently the design is limited in scope, however, working only for a single wavelength of light. Researchers, nonetheless, consider it a first step to a more full-featured cloaking design
The theory behind the design is simple. When uncloaked, objects reflect light back to the source. However, when cloaked, the tiny Nanotechnology device guides light around the cloaked object, effectively rendering it invisible to the viewer. After being circumvented in this manner light resumes its normal route towards the back, thus illuminating the background.
The tiny needles in the object would be about 10 nanometers wide, with a single nanometer being the size of 20 hydrogen atoms sewn together. The needles would form a cylinder pattern emanating from the spoke of the device. As stated, the device as currently designed would succeed for only one visible spectrum of light, the band in the range of 632.8 nanometers, or the color red. Researchers believe that, despite the technical challenges, they can design an object that would work for all bands of the spectrum, and could eventually be large enough to cloak objects like people or aircraft.
Possible applications for the device would include a cloaking system to protect against night vision goggles used by enemy soldiers. This would be an ideal application, as these goggles typically operate in only one wavelength, well within the scope the cloaking device in its current design. Greater advances in Nanotechnology would ultimately enable researchers to design a cloaking device that operates in all the visible spectrums of light, opening up myriads of possible applications.
Related Posts:
- Optical and elastic properties of Metal Nanoparticles
- Structural, Electronic and optical properties of Semiconductor Nanocrystals
- Bionanodevices in Bionanotechnology
- Research on Gold Nanoparticles
- Passivated Nanoparticles
- Multifunctional Nanoparticles in Diagnosis of Pancreatic Cancer Cells
- Possible use of nanofluids for digital display
- Merger Creates Nanotechnology Powerhouse
- Nanoparticles: The Golden Bullet for Cancer Treatment
- Morphological varieties of Carbon Nanotubes
Top Of Page | Trackback
If you found this page useful, consider linking to it. Simply copy and paste the code below into your web site.
It will look like this: Nanotechnology and Optical Cloaking
