Adaptive Multispectral Infrared Camouflage

With advancements in infrared detection technology, there is a need for fast, switchable infrared camouflage. Here, we report an adaptive infrared camouflage system that can be engineered to operate at any desired wavelength in the technologically relevant, infrared transparent 3–5 and 8–12 μm bands. Adaptive camouflage is actuated by exploiting the semiconductor to metal phase transition in VO2, which modifies the reflection spectra of the multilayered cavity-coupled plasmonic system. The temperature-dependent permittivity of VO2 is calculated using effective medium theory to investigate its role in the optical response of the system. Finally, we show for the first time active thermal camouflage of multispectral infrared information that was encoded on a designer surface comprised of sub 20 μm pixels. Our results demonstrate the versatility of the design, which can lead to future research and applications of high definition adaptive infrared tagging, camouflaging, and anticounterfeiting efforts.