Regulating Thermal Radiation With Metal-Insulator Phase Transition

As a textbook example of strongly correlated electron material, vanadium dioxide (VO2) features a metal-insulator transition (MIT) when temperature drops below 67oC. The physics of the MIT has challenged physicists for decades, while the potential of the MIT has inspired researchers for a wide range of applications.

We have recently developed new applications of VO2 for smart regulation of thermal infrared radiation, including a platform where thermal emissivity can be engineered for infrared camouflaging [Advanced Materials, 32, 1907071 (2020)], a thermal imaging sensitizer that achieves milli-Kelvin resolution of thermography at room temperature [Science Advances, 6, eabd8688 (2020)], and a temperature adaptive radiative coating for all-season household thermal regulation [Science, 374, 1504 (2021)].

Speaker: Junqiao Wu, UC Berkeley