A new device invented at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) can absorb 99.75 percent of infrared light that shines on it. When activated, it appears black to infrared cameras.
Composed of just a 180-nanometer-thick layer of vanadium dioxide on top of a sheet of sapphire, the device reacts to temperature changes by reflecting dramatically more or less infrared light.
Because the device can be easily switched between its absorbent and nonabsorbent states, the possible applications are wide ranging and include bolometers (thermal imaging devices) with tunable absorption, spectroscopy devices, tunable filters, thermal emitters, radiation detectors, and equipment for energy harvesting.
Also: Learn about a Scanning Laser Infrared Molecular Spectrometer (SLIMS).
