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 energyefficient and cost-effective passive thermal control systems of spacecraft and other surfaces.

Optical Solar Reflectors are devices that combine high reflection for visible wavelengths with a strong emissivity in the infrared. Compared to the conventional rigid quartz tiles used on spacecraft since the 1960s, thin-film solutions can offer a significant advantage in weight, assembly and launch costs. Here, we present a metasurface based approach using an Al-doped * To whom correspondence should be addressed † Electronics ‡ Physics ¶ CREO § NILT ZnO (AZO) transparent conducting oxide as infrared plasmonic material. The AZO is patterned into a metasurface to achieve broad plasmonic resonances with enhanced absorption of electromagnetic radiation in the thermal infrared. In the visible range, the transparent conducting oxide provides low losses for solar radiation, while intrinsic absorption losses in the ultraviolet range are effectively suppressed using a multilayer reflecting coating. The addition of high-emissivity layers to the stack eventually results in comparable emissivity values to the thin plasmonic device, thus defining a window of opportunity for plasmonic absorption as a design strategy for ultrathin devices. The optimized experimental structure achieves solar absorptance (α) of 0.16 and thermal emissivity (ε) of 0.79. Our first prototype demonstrator paves the way for further improvement and large-area fabrication of metasurface solar reflectors, and ultimately their application in space missions.

Smart radiative cooling devices based on thermochromic materials such as vanadium dioxide (VO2) are of practical interest for temperature regulation and artificial homeostasis, i.e., maintaining stable equilibrium conditions for survival, both in terrestrial and space applications. In traditional solar reflector configurations, solar absorption in the VO2 layer is a performance limiting factor due to the multiple reflections of sunlight in the stack. Here, we demonstrate a visually transparent, smart radiator panel with reduced solar absorption. An Al-doped ZnO transparent conducting oxide layer acts as a frequency selective infrared back-reflector with high transmission of solar radiation. In this study we make use of high-quality VO2 thin films deposited using atomic layer deposition and optimized annealing process. Patterning of the VO2 layer into a metasurface results in a further reduction of the solar absorption parameter α to around 0.3, while exhibiting a thermal emissivity contrast Δε of 0.26 by exploiting plasmonic enhancement effects. The VO2 metasurface provides a visual spectrum transmission of up to 62%, which is of interest for a range of applications requiring visual transparency. The transparent smart metasurface thermal emitter offers a new approach for thermal management in both space and terrestrial radiative cooling scenarios.

The unique structural transition of VO2 between dielectric and metallic phases has significant potential in optical and electrical applications ranging from volatile switches and neuromorphic computing to smart devices for thermochromic control and radiative cooling. Critical condition for their widespread implementation is scalable deposition method and reduction of the phase transition to near room temperature. Here, a W:VO2 process based on atomic layer deposition (ALD) is presented that enables precise control of W‐doping at the few percent level, resulting in a viable controllable process with sufficient W incorporation into VO2 to reduce the phase transition to room temperature. It is demonstrated that the incorporation of 1.63 at.% W through ALD growth leads to a state‐of‐the‐art phase transition at 32 °C with emissivity contrast between the low‐temperature and high‐temperature phase exceeding 40% in a metasurface‐based radiative cooling device configuration. The process is shown to be viable on 200 mm silicon substrates as well as flexible polyimide films. The full and self‐consistent temperature‐dependent characterization of the W‐doped VO2 using spectroscopic ellipsometry, electrical conductivity, mid‐wave infrared camera, and Fourier transform infrared emissivity, allows for a fully validated material model for the theoretical design of various smart and switchable device applications.

In the frame of a project aimed at developing a new type of optical solar reflectors we present the scientific and technological issues addressed during irradiations of nano-hybrid coatings on polyimide films by using 20 keV electron beam from a modified use of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and with ultraviolet (UV) dose equal to 300 space-equivalent Sun hours. Details of a new approach to use SEM for low energy electron irradiations and of a new UV irradiation setup are given. K : Radiation damage evaluation methods; Radiation damage monitoring systems; Charge induction 1Corresponding author. 2On leave from INFN under the support of Tubitak-2236 Brain Circulation Scheme.

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Optical solar reflectors (OSRs) play a crucial role in the spacecraft thermal management. We present novel OSRs based on planar or non-planar metal oxide metasurface. Fabricated meta-OSRs are shown to give superior emittance performance.