Metaflex: Scottish Scientist develop 'Invisibility Cloak'

The material, called "Metaflex" may in future provide a way of manufacturing fabrics that manipulate light.

Metamaterials have already been developed that bend and channel light to render objects invisible at longer wavelengths.

Visible light poses a greater challenge because its short wavelength means the metamaterial atoms have to be very small.

So far such small light-bending atoms have only been produced on flat, hard surfaces unsuitable for use in clothing.

But scientists at the University of St Andrews in Scotland believe they have overcome this problem. They have produced flexible metamaterial "membranes" using a new technique that frees the meta-atoms from the hard surface they are constructed on.

Metaflex can operate at wavelengths of around 620 nanometres, within the visible light region. Stacking the membranes together could produce a flexible "smart fabric" that may provide the basis of an invisibility cloak, the scientists believe.

Other applications could include "superlenses" that are far more efficient than conventional lenses.

Describing their work in the New Journal of Physics, the researchers write: "Arguably, one of the most exciting applications of Metaflex is to fabricate three-dimensional flexible MMs (metamaterials) in the optical range, which can be achieved by stacking several Metaflex membranes on top of one another...

Dr Andrea Di Falco

"These results confirm that it is possible to realise MMs on flexible substrates and operating in the visible regime, which we believe are ideal building blocks for future generations of three-dimensional flexible MMs at optical wavelengths."

Lead scientist Dr Andrea Di Falco said: "Metamaterials give us the ultimate handle on manipulating the behaviour of light."

Observing Sunrise: Solar scientists review Hinode findings

Japan has a long tradition in solar physics and in 2006 launched one of the major space observatories – Hinode, which means 'sunrise' in Japanese.

For almost six years this satellite has been constantly monitoring our local star with a suite of three telescopes: the Solar Optical Telescope, X-ray Telescope and Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS).

Solar Optical Telecope

Together, they enable the study of how magnetic energy is generated and released in the atmosphere of our Sun.

This week in St. Andrews over 150 scientists from around the world gathered for the "Hinode 6" conference to celebrate what has been learnt using the Hinode satellite.

Although launched and led by Japan, the satellite has major contributions from the UK, the USA and Norway.

Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrometer (EIS)

Unexpectedly, St. Andrews has a connection to Hinode’s modern observing methods that dates back to the late 1600s.

The Scottish mathematician James Gregory upon walking along the beach in St. Andrews, Scotland, picked up a feather and wondered what would happen if a beam of light were shone through it.

Isaac Newton was conducting similar experiments with glass prisms in Cambridge.

Back in his lab, Gregory saw that the feather split the light into its component colours in a process now known as diffraction – a simple technique that is used today in many solar telescopes as it allows us to measure the properties of sunlight and in turn learn about the star that emitted it.

The Solar Science department at UCL led the development of the EIS telescope - a modern equivalent to the bird’s feather - which splits the ultraviolet light emitted from atmospheric gases into the component colours.

A major topic for discussion at the conference has been how magnetic fields that emanate up from the Sun’s surface into the atmosphere, create structures that glow in ultraviolet and X-rays and produce activity such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME).

A large X-class flare captured by the X-ray telescope on Hinode. Image credit: JAXA/Hinode

High-speed gas flows associated to solar flares have been observed, helping scientists understand the processes that convert energy stored in the magnetic fields into energy of gas motions.

Computer models have been combined with observations to understand how currents surge along the magnetic structures, supported by the charged particles of the atmospheric gases, heating the atmospheric gases to very high temperatures.

Read the full article here at SEN: Solar scientists review Hinode findings