Thermal camouflage based on the phase-changing material GST

TLDR: A thermal camouflage device incorporating the phase-changing material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) is experimentally demonstrated and it is shown that near-perfect thermal camouflage can be continuously achieved for background temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 50”°C by tuning the emissivity of the device, which is attained by controlling the GST phase change.

Abstract: Camouflage technology has attracted growing interest for many thermal applications. Previous experimental demonstrations of thermal camouflage technology have not adequately explored the ability to continuously camouflage objects either at varying background temperatures or for wide observation angles. In this study, a thermal camouflage device incorporating the phase-changing material Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) is experimentally demonstrated. It has been shown that near-perfect thermal camouflage can be continuously achieved for background temperatures ranging from 30 °C to 50 °C by tuning the emissivity of the device, which is attained by controlling the GST phase change. The thermal camouflage is robust when the observation angle is changed from 0° to 60°. This demonstration paves the way toward dynamic thermal emission control both within the scientific field and for practical applications in thermal information.