Infrared spectrally selective low emissivity from Ge/ZnS one-dimensional heterostructure photonic crystal

• Ge/ZnS 1DHPC was successfully prepared by optical coating technology.
• The 1DHPC has infrared spectrally selective low emissivity at the wavelength of 3–18 μm.
• The 1DHPC may unify the infrared stealth and effective cooling of the aircraft.

Ge/ZnS one-dimensional heterostructure photonic crystal (1DHPC) was successfully prepared by alternating thin films of Ge and ZnS on the quartz substrate by using the optical coating technology. The microstructure and spectral emissivity of as-prepared 1DHPC were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR), respectively. The test result of spectral emissivity shows that the average emissivities of as-prepared Ge/ZnS 1DHPC in the atmospheric windows of 3–5 μm and 8–14 μm can be as low as 0.046 and 0.190, respectively, but the average emissivity in the non-atmospheric window of 5–8 μm can be as high as 0.579. The results indicate that the as-prepared Ge/ZnS 1DHPC has obviously infrared spectrally selective low emissivity characteristic, basically meets the requirements of our design. The as-prepared 1DHPC with infrared spectrally selective low emissivity is promising for use as a material to unify the infrared stealth and effective cooling of the aircraft.