A team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) have developed a material that resembles an invisibility cloak. The material could change the face of military operations and would allow weapons and maybe even military personnel to function while undetected.
UCSD scientists have tested the “first effective dielectric metasurface material—an ultra-thin, non-metallic material with properties that means it can manipulate electromagnetic waves, including light and radio waves, so that the object is no longer detectable,” the Army Times reported. The material was also tested with microwaves; results suggest the material could also be beneficial at other wavelengths.
The material consists of a layer of polytetrafluoroetheylene with multiple ceramic cylinders embedded in it.
“The material is unique in that it works at one-tenth of the wavelength trying to be avoided. In other words, in order to make an object undetectable to a 3 cm (30 mm) wavelength—the typical wavelength used by missile guidance and marine radar systems—a 3 mm coat of the material is required. Previous stealth-enhancing materials required much thicker coats in order to be effective,” Boubacar Kanté, author of the study, told the Army Times.
“Currently, the material developed by the UCSD team only functions with light hitting it within a six-degree range of angles—meaning that objects coated with it only go undetected when light hits them at a certain angle. Kanté said they were working to expand the range,” according to Newsweek.
Some researchers believe the material could improve jets and drones.
“The material is basically what the military’s looking for and could be utilized within five to 10 years. it could provide the military with air superiority. It could be used for stealth fighter jets or in unmanned aerial vehicles,” Kayla Matola, a research analyst for the Homeland Defense & Security Information Analysis Center (HDIAC), said.
However, other researchers believe the material’s main applications will be land-based military systems, such as snipers or mounted weapons.
“The chief challenge in creating something which is truly invisible is dealing with the various wavelengths of different forms of electromagnetic radiation. The electromagnetic spectrum includes radio waves, which have a wavelength of more than 1 mm, as well infrared and visible light waves, which can have wavelengths as short as 750 nanometers (nm) and 400 nm respectively,” Justin Bronk, a research analyst in military sciences at U.K. defense think tank RUSI, told Newsweek.
“There’s always a trade-off in terms of which spectrum you are trying to reduce your detectability in. For example, one of the properties of radar-absorbent materials—which are used in fighter jets to reduce their detection on radar systems—is that absorbed radar waves are converted into heat. So while their radar detectability is reduced, their infrared signature is increased. The perfect invisibility coat in all spectra is something far, far beyond material science at the moment,” Bronk concluded.
