Currently I have been looking more at Transformation optics, specifically a paper called ‘Transformation Optics and the Geometery of Light’. It explains the theory behind Transformation Optics and how it relates to optics as we know it. The theories surrounding Transformation Optics are the basis of research into invisibility cloaking and negative refraction.

I have also watched a lecture by Professor John Pendry about metamaterials and the science of invisibility. This explains a lot more about the idea of transformation optics and prototypes created using metamaterials that use these ideas. There is currently a prototype of a ‘carpet cloak’ that can hide bumps in flat surfaces from visible light. There is also a 2D electromagnetic invisibility cloak that hides objects from electromagnetic waves while limiting disruption to the electromagnetic field.

These are all a good basis for understanding the theory behind what I am attempting to do with my project. After talking with my supervisor, I am going to look more into polarization and how that might affect the invisibility cloak. I am also going to start prototyping the illumination that I’m planning to use as well as the cloak.