FURI | Fall 2019

Design, Characterization and Prototyping of Smart Windows with Thermochromic Thin-Film Coatings

The creation of a smart window that allows solar thermal radiation to pass through when the temperature is cool but prevents solar thermal radiation from passing through at high temperatures would reduce the cost of heating and cooling systems. This experiment seeks to develop a switchable optical filter in the visible and near-infrared wavelengths and focuses on creating a large transmission difference between the “on” and “off” states of the filter. The proposed structure is a Fabry-Perot thin-film structure using thermochromic vanadium dioxide as the switching material. Future experiments focus on increasing the visible transmittance across all temperatures.