Metasurfaces as Energy Valves for Sustainable Energy Management

• Published in: Micromachines (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 10; p. 1769
• Main Authors: Nishijima, Yoshiaki, Kimura, Syunya, Takeshima, Yu, Juodkazis, Saulius
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 18-10-2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Climate change; Cooling; Design; Electromagnetic absorption; Energy conversion; Energy management; Energy management systems; Energy use; Force and energy; Glass substrates; Green technology; Indium tin oxides; Light; Metals; Metasurfaces; Microscopy; mid-infrared plasmonics; Radiation; Simulation; Substrates; Technology application; Thermal energy; thermal radiation; transparent metasurfaces; Wavelengths
• ISSN: 2072-666X; 2072-666X
• DOI: 10.3390/mi13101769

Control of light absorption and transmission by metal–insulator–metal (MIM) metasurfaces are promising for applications in optical windows. This study shows the realization of photo-thermal energy conversion for radiative cooling by MIM metasurfaces with thin metal substrate and Indium–Tin–Oxide (ITO). High transparency of ITO at visible wavelengths and high absorption at mid-infrared wavelengths were realized for future applications of efficient cooling or heating applicable for living and working spaces. The MIM (ITO/CaF2/ITO) metasurface was patterned with low-resolution photo-lithography as a demonstration of further simplification and possible scalability of the patterning for practical window applications.