Brussels, 24/11/2010 (Agence Europe) - The invisibility of objects, which currently exists only in Harry Potter films, could soon become a reality. The European Commission has decided to support research by German, Greek, British and Turkish scientists who have managed to use nanotechnology to tailor the flow of light. This support comes in the framework of the Commissions initiative to stipulate high-risk research into future and emerging information technologies, one of the objectives of the digital strategy for Europe. “I am amazed by the ingenuity of European researchers (…). Such cutting edge research is crucial to laying the foundations of the new technologies essential for Europe's competitiveness”, said the commissioner with responsibility for the digital strategy, Neelie Kroes.
The scientific breakthrough is based on the principle of transformation optics, which was pioneered by the team behind the project. Basically, the scientists working on the PHOME project designed and created a structure made up of “photonic meta-materials”, a sort of “invisibility cloak” which influences the behaviour of light rays. Although trials have so far succeeded in cloaking only sub-millimetre objects, the project is revolutionary as it makes it possible to cloak an object in three dimensions, optic properties hitherto believed to be impossible, the Commission writes. Previously, the tests worked in just two dimensions (the cloaked object was invisible to anyone standing directly in front of it, but became visible again when the person moved alongside it). Work under the PHOME project started in April 2008 and will finish in 2011. The total cost of the project is €1.88 million, with the Commission contributing €1.43 million from the ICT research budget of the seventh framework programme for R&D (2007-2013). (I.L./transl.fl)