Physics

Light source

Solar energy

Biology

Reflectivity

Plasmon

Optics

Absorption (acoustics)

Beam (structure)

Composite material

Ecology

Materials science

Reflector (photography)

Photovoltaic system

Absorptance

Thermal emittance

Optoelectronics

ACS Photonics

Optical solar reflector smart radiators are able to control the temperature of spacecraft. This work demonstrates a novel smart optical solar reflector using a patterned thermo-chromic VO2 plasmonic meta-surface design. The VO2 meta-surface combines the temperature induced phase transition of VO2 with plasmonic resonances resulting in a significant enhancement of the infrared absorption. The enhanced absorption obtained at a reduced VO2 coverage results in superior emittance tunability Δε and lower solar absorptance α compared to a corresponding thin-film reflector. An emittance tunability of 0.48 is obtained for the meta-reflector design, representing a 30% improvement compared to the unstructured film. Meta-surface based smart optical solar reflectors offer a new route toward energy-efficient and cost-effective passive thermal control systems of spacecraft and other surfaces.

VO<sub>2</sub> Thermochromic Metamaterial-Based Smart Optical Solar Reflector

VO2 Thermochromic Metamaterial-Based Smart Optical Solar Reflector

VO₂ Thermochromic Metamaterial-Based Smart Optical Solar Reflector