UPSC Articles
Invisible Shield against Electromagnetic Interference designed
Part of: GS-Prelims and GS-III – scientific innovations and discoveries
In News:
- Recently, scientists from the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, have designed a metal mesh structure to construct an invisible shield against Electromagnetic Interference (EMI).
Key takeaways
- Metal Mesh Structure:
- A copper metal mesh is developed on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) sheet which exhibits a visible transmittance of about 85%.
- Transmittance describes how much light passes through a sample.
- Metal mesh provides better electromagnetic shielding compared to the same thickness of continuous metal film where transparency can be compromised.
- Benefits:
- It will isolate a device’s energy so it doesn’t affect anything else and blocks external energy from getting in.
- This ‘invisible’ shield can be used in various military stealth applications.
- It can cover electromagnetic wave emitter or absorber devices without compromising aesthetics.
- It is an important element for enhancing the stealth capability of a weapon platform
Important value additions
Electromagnetic Interference
- It is an electromagnetic emission that causes a disturbance in another piece of electrical equipment.
- Any device that has an electronic circuit can be susceptible to EMI.
- It compromises the performance of electrical equipment by obstructing and degrading data, sometimes even losing data completely.
- EMI can be attributed to a wide span of the electromagnetic spectrum including radio and microwave frequencies.