Phase-change Fano resonator for active modulation of thermal emission

Abstract

Optical modulation of heat emission using spectrally selective infrared (IR) metasurface nanoantenna designs has found potential applications in various fields, including radiative cooling and thermal camouflage. While radiative cooling requires emitters to emit within atmospheric transmissive windows (mainly located at 8–14 μm), thermal camouflage structures have to operate within the non-transmissive window (5–8 μm) to hide an object from thermal imaging systems and cameras. Therefore, a passive nanoantenna structure cannot satisfy both conditions simultaneously. In this paper, we propose an adaptive nanoantenna emitter made of samarium nickelate (SmNiO₃) phase change material to cover both functionalities with a single Fano resonator-based design. As the temperature rises, the thermal signature of the nanoantenna at the transmissive window is suppressed; therefore, a better camouflage performance is achieved. The dynamic tunability of switching from radiative cooling to thermal camouflage of the proposed Fano resonator-based design is quantitatively demonstrated using emissive power calculations under different conditions.