Passive radiative cooling using temperature-dependent emissivity can sometimes outperform static emitters

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Jin, Yeonghoon, Cho, Jin-Woo, Kats, Mikhail A.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Jin, Yeonghoon
Cho, Jin-Woo
Kats, Mikhail A.
author_facet Jin, Yeonghoon
Cho, Jin-Woo
Kats, Mikhail A.
contents In passive sky-facing radiative cooling, wavelength-selective thermal emitters in the atmospheric transparency window of 8-13 $μ$m can reach lower temperatures compared to broadband emitters, but broadband emitters always have higher cooling power when the emitter is warmer than the ambient. Here, we propose a temperature-tunable thermal emitter that switches between a wavelength-selective state -- with high emissivity only in the atmospheric transparency window of 8-13 $μ$m -- and a broadband-emissive state with high emissivity in the 3-25 $μ$m range, thus maintaining high cooling potential across all temperatures. We also propose a realization of such a temperature-tunable emitter using the phase transition of vanadium dioxide (VO$_2$), which can be tuned to the ambient temperature using a combination of doping and defect engineering.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_11259
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Passive radiative cooling using temperature-dependent emissivity can sometimes outperform static emitters
Jin, Yeonghoon
Cho, Jin-Woo
Kats, Mikhail A.
Optics
Materials Science
Applied Physics
In passive sky-facing radiative cooling, wavelength-selective thermal emitters in the atmospheric transparency window of 8-13 $μ$m can reach lower temperatures compared to broadband emitters, but broadband emitters always have higher cooling power when the emitter is warmer than the ambient. Here, we propose a temperature-tunable thermal emitter that switches between a wavelength-selective state -- with high emissivity only in the atmospheric transparency window of 8-13 $μ$m -- and a broadband-emissive state with high emissivity in the 3-25 $μ$m range, thus maintaining high cooling potential across all temperatures. We also propose a realization of such a temperature-tunable emitter using the phase transition of vanadium dioxide (VO$_2$), which can be tuned to the ambient temperature using a combination of doping and defect engineering.
title Passive radiative cooling using temperature-dependent emissivity can sometimes outperform static emitters
topic Optics
Materials Science
Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.11259