Harry who? Scientists design invisibility cloak able to make objects vanish

Professor Andrea Alu, from the University of Texas, claims the solution her team describes can conceal objects at a wide range of light frequencies.

However despite the dreams of many sci-fi and fantasy fans, the ability to disappear completely is still said to be "impossible".

"Our active cloak is a completely new concept and design, aimed at beating the limits of [current cloaks] and we show that it indeed does," said Prof Alu to the BBC.

"If you want to make an object transparent at all angles and over broad bandwidths, this is a good solution.

FAMOUS: The idea of an invisibility cloak was made famous by J.K. Rowling's boy wizard [WARNER BROS]

“This finding does not necessarily preclude the Harry Potter cloak”

David Smith of Duke University

"We are looking into realising this technology at the moment, but we are still at the early stages."

The ability to effectively conceal objects and even people could have huge uses in areas including microscopy, military technology and biomedical sensing, never mind teenage wizards who wish to vanish from sight.

Stealth aircraft which are able to conceal themselves from enemy radar have long been used by the US, Russian and Chinese airforces.

The major problem with cloaking technology is that by making an object invisible at one point of the light spectrum, e.g. red light, it makes the object stand out more at another point on the light spectrum.

FIGHTERS: Stealth aircraft like this B-2 bomber have been used by the US for decades [GETTY]

"If you suppress scattering in one range, you need to pay the price, with interest, in some other range," added Prof Alu.

The study has concluded that a "cloak" able to bring about total invisibility is currently "impossible".

Prof David Smith of Duke University was part of a team that created a device which concealed a small copper cylinder in 2006 by bending microwaves around it.

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He told BBC News the latest design was one of the most detailed he had ever seen.

"It's an interesting implementation but as presented is probably a bit limited to certain types of objects," he said.

"To most people, making an object 'invisible' means making it transparent to visible wavelengths. And the visible spectrum is a tiny, tiny sliver of the overall electromagnetic spectrum.

"So, this finding does not necessarily preclude the Harry Potter cloak, nor does it preclude any other barrow bandwidth application of cloaking."