Researchers Cloak a 3D object

 For the first time researchers have been able to cloak a three dimensional object, but only in the microwave region of the EM spectrum. Using a shell of plasmonic materials, it is possible to create a photo negative of the object being cloaked in order to make it disappear. The technique is different to the use of metamaterials, which try to bounce light around the object. Instead, plasmonics try to deceive the light as to what's actually there at the time.

 Plasmonic materials are composed of metals and insulators that are ordered in geometric arrangements with dimensions that are fractions of the wavelength of light. Research groups have being experimenting with a variety of geometric approaches, but all were aiming to exploit surface plasmons, which are light-induced packets of electrical charges that collectively oscillate at the surfaces of metals at optical frequencies.

Most of the high-profile invisibility cloaking efforts have focused on the engineering of metamaterials, modifying materials to have properties that cannot be found in nature. The modifications allow metamaterials to guide and channel light in unusual ways - specifically, to make the light rays arrive as if they had not passed over or been reflected by a cloaked object.