Effects of substrates, film thickness and temperature on thermal emittance of Mo/substrate deposited by magnetron sputtering

•A saturated Mo thickness of 50 nm is found to result in the lowest emittance.•We found Mo film emittance was decreased by decreasing substrate surface roughness.•Emittance of optimal Mo film is 0.05 from 25 °C to 400 °C.

The thermal emittance of the Mo film, as an IR-reflector in solar selective absorbing coatings, is the most important property. The effects of the substrate material, the substrate surface roughness, the film thickness and the temperature on the thermal emittance of the Mo/substrate have been investigated. A series of Mo films with increasing film thickness were deposited on two types of substrate materials (glass and stainless steel). A saturated Mo thickness of 50 nm is found to produce the lowest thermal emittance. The thermal emittance of the Mo film is reduced by decreasing the substrate surface roughness. The emittance of the optimal Mo film remains 0.05 from 25 °C to 400 °C, which can meet the optical requirements for the IR-reflector.