Color-thermal multispectral camouflage with VO2-based dynamic regulator

Abstract Camouflage technology has garnered increasing attention for various applications. With the continuous advancement of detection technologies and the increasing variability of camouflage scenarios, the demand for multispectral dynamic camouflage has been steadily growing. In this work, we present a multispectral dynamic regulator based on phase-changing material vanadium dioxide (VO2) that can be dynamically and functional-independently regulated for reflective color and thermal radiation. It has been shown that the device can achieve a wide color gamut variation in visible band while simultaneously achieving highest emissivity tunability (Δε=-0.58) in the atmospheric window up to now, achieves multispectral camouflage spanning the visible and infrared spectra among VO2-based devices. To go a step further, we advance the device featuring long-term cycling stability to achieve thermal-electric dual-mode response and flexibility for a series real-world camouflage performance evaluation. We have also demonstrated the digital camouflage based on multispectral dynamic regulator through Neighboring Color Block Camouflage Algorithm, highlighting its potential for practical implementation in different camouflage scenarios. The device achieves multispectral dynamic camouflage, opening a path for advancing the technology development in both the scientific field and practical applications.