A team of researchers at Moscow's National University of Science and Technology (NUST MISIS) have come up with a unique metamaterial which can make combat vehicles invisible, the authoritative scientific journal Physical Review wrote.

Metamaterial is a substance engineered to have a property that is not found in nature. It is capable of manipulating electromagnetic waves by blocking, absorbing, enhancing, or bending them to make things invisible.

Metamaterials can be widely used in the development of new types of weapons and the design of supercomputers where conventional electrical signals will make way for photonic ones.

The NUST MISIS team worked closely with colleagues from the University of Crete, Greece. In 2016 Russia and Greece signed a memorandum on cooperation in quantum technology research and joint financing of this work, including the study of metamaterials.

“The experimental part of our research was the creation of a one-of-a-kind metamaterial consisting of a small flat grid of the so-called meta-molecules cut out from a solid piece of ordinary steel,” the project’s director Alexei Basharin was quoted as saying by the NUST MISIS press service.

Metamaterial, which can make combat vehicles invisible © Photo : MISiS

Project’s director Alexei Basharin © Photo : MISiS 1 / 2 © Photo : MISiS Metamaterial, which can make combat vehicles invisible

Basharin said that thanks to the special shape and configuration of these cells the scientists managed to obtain metamaterial with absolutely unique properties. This metamaterial can be used to make supersensitive sensors to detect explosives and chemical weapons.

“An addition of a nonlinear semiconductor will turn the metamaterial into an adjustable screen for stealth technologies, which make fighting vehicles less visible in radio, infrared and other bands,” the NUST MISIS press service said in a statement.

The newly obtained metamaterial can also become a vital element of the latest types of lasers and serve the basis for quantum computers.

“The Russian Satellite Communications Company (RSCC) and other space-related organizations have already shown interest in the new material,” the NUST MISIS statement said.

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