A team of researchers have developed a device that can make soldiers and vehicles disappear.
Called
the 'stealth sheet,' it's a paper-thin device that can obscure objects
from being detected by a drone's infrared cameras.
The
sheet measures less than a millimeter wide, making it about as thick as
10 pieces of paper, but it can effectively make objects invisible from a
drone's view.
It's made out of bendable silicon and can
hide about 94% of the infrared light it encounters, according to the
study, which was authored by researchers at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
They hope that it eventually will be used to help soldiers and their gear stay safe on the battlefield.
'What we have shown is an ultrathin stealth "sheet",' Hongrui Jiang, a co-author of the study, said in a statement.
'Right now what people have is much heavier metal armor or thermal blankets.'
Warm objects like the human body or a
car's engine give off heat as infrared light, which is something that a
drone can pick up on.
Other technologies have been developed to obscure these heat sources, but can be cumbersome or expensive.
The 'stealth sheet' can make
objects undetectable by night-vision goggles or a drone's infrared
cameras. Researchers hope the cloak could have real-life applications on
the battlefield
The stealth
sheet improves from these other devices by being able to absorb light in
the 'mid- and long-wavelength infrared range,' which is the type of
light emitted by objects that are the same temperature as the human
body, according to the study.
Researchers also equipped the material with electronic heating elements that can 'trick' infrared cameras.
Hongrui Jiang, an author of the study (pictured), said real-life adoption of the sheet will depend on cost and ease of use
'You can intentionally deceive an infrared detector by presenting a false heat signature,' Jiang said.
'It could conceal a tank by presenting what looks like a simply highway guardrail.'
To
do this, the researchers used black silicon to make the sheet, which is
created by harvesting silicon crystals on a silicon wafer, according to
New Scientist.
This creates the appearance of a 'forest' of silicon needles, called nanowires, which reflect very little light.
The nanowires are created using tiny particles of silver, which are etched into a silicon wafer.
Warm objects like the human body
or a car's engine give off heat as infrared light, which is something
that night-vision goggles or a device's infrared camera can pick up on
WHAT ARE INFRARED CAMERAS AND HOW DO THEY WORK?
Air prticles were then built into the black silicon to keep it from overheating.
The light waves bounce back and forth between the needles, which prevents light from escaping.
Black silicon has been known to trap visible light, but the researchers realized it could also trap infrared light.
'We didn’t completely reinvent the whole process, but we did extend the process to much taller nanowires,' Jiang said.
Now, Jiang and the researchers are working to 'scale up their sheet for applications in the real world.
The stealth sheet improves from
these other devices by being able to absorb light in the 'mid- and
long-wavelength infrared range,' which is the type of light emitted by
objects that are the same temperature as the human body
They've already tested the sheet on a model of the human body, as well as a model of a jeep.
Researchers found that the objects were 'virtually undetectable' during the tests, according to New Scientist.
Now, they're focusing on working out the object's weight, cost and ease of use.
'If
you have someone hidingin the bush or you have a tank running with a
hot engine, and someone is trying to detect these objects with a thermal
camera, this is a counter measure,' Jiang told the New Scientist. dailymail
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