High-Temperature Stealth Across Multi-Infrared and Microwave Bands with Efficient Radiative Thermal Management

Abstract

High-temperature stealth is vital for enhancing the concealment, survivability, and longevity of critical assets. However, achieving stealth across multiple infrared bands-particularly in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) band-along with microwave stealth and efficient thermal management at high temperatures, remains a significant challenge. Here, we propose a strategy that integrates an IR-selective emitter (Mo/Si multilayer films) and a microwave metasurface (TiB₂-Al₂O₃-TiB₂) to enable multi-infrared band stealth, encompassing mid-wave infrared (MWIR), long-wave infrared (LWIR), and SWIR bands, and microwave (X-band) stealth at 700 °C, with simultaneous radiative cooling in non-atmospheric window (5-8 μm). At 700 °C, the device exhibits low emissivity of 0.38/0.44/0.60 in the MWIR/LWIR/SWIR bands, reflection loss below - 3 dB in the X-band (9.6-12 GHz), and high emissivity of 0.82 in 5-8 μm range-corresponding to a cooling power of 9.57 kW m^-2. Moreover, under an input power of 17.3 kW m^-2-equivalent to the aerodynamic heating at Mach 2.2-the device demonstrates a temperature reduction of 72.4 °C compared to a conventional low-emissivity molybdenum surface at high temperatures. This work provides comprehensive guidance on high-temperature stealth design, with far-reaching implications for multispectral information processing and thermal management in extreme high-temperature environments.