Infrared-transmittance tunable metal-insulator conversion device with thin-film-transistor-type structure on a glass substrate

TL;DR

This paper presents a room-temperature, all-solid-state thin-film device using VO2 that can reversibly modulate infrared transmittance through protonation, enabling energy-efficient smart window applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel three-terminal device with protonation-controlled IR transmittance modulation on a glass substrate, advancing smart window technology.

Findings

Achieved 49% IR transmittance modulation at room temperature.

Demonstrated reversible, non-volatile metal-insulator phase conversion in VO2.

Realized two orders of magnitude change in sheet resistance.

Abstract

Infrared (IR) transmittance tunable metal-insulator conversion was demonstrated on glass substrate by using thermochromic vanadium dioxide (VO2) as the active layer in three-terminal thin-film-transistor-type device with water-infiltrated glass as the gate insulator. Alternative positive/negative gate-voltage applications induce the reversible protonation/deprotonation of VO2 channel, and two-orders of magnitude modulation of sheet-resistance and 49% modulation of IR-transmittance were simultaneously demonstrated at room temperature by the metal-insulator phase conversion of VO2 in a non-volatile manner. The present device is operable by the room-temperature protonation in all-solid-state structure, and thus it will provide a new gateway to future energy-saving technology as advanced smart window.