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Multispectral graphene-based electro-optical surfaces with reversible tunability from visible to microwave wavelengths

Nature Photonics volume 15, pages 493–498 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Optical materials with colour changing abilities have been explored for use in display devices1, smart windows2,3 or in the modulation of visual appearance4,5,6. The efficiency of these materials, however, has strong wavelength dependence, which limits their functionality to a specific spectral range. Here, we report graphene-based electro-optical devices with unprecedented optical tunability covering the entire electromagnetic spectrum from the visible to microwave. We achieve this non-volatile and reversible tunability by electro-intercalation of lithium into graphene layers in an optically accessible device structure. The unique colour changing capability, together with area-selective intercalation, inspires the fabrication of new multispectral devices, including display devices and electro-optical camouflage coating. We anticipate that these results provide realistic approaches for programmable smart optical surfaces with a potential utility in many scientific and engineering fields such as active plasmonics and adaptive thermal management.

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Fig. 1: Device structure and operation principle.
Fig. 2: Multispectral tunability from the visible to microwave.
Fig. 3: In situ Raman characterization of the intercalation process.
Fig. 4: Multispectral display and adaptive camouflage.
Fig. 5: Adaptive thermal management for satellites.

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Data availability

Data are available from the authors upon request.

Code availability

The custom code used for fitting of the optical reflectivity is available from the authors upon request.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the European Research Council through an ERC Consolidator Grant (grant no. 682723, SmartGraphene) and an ERC PoC Grant (grant no. 899908, SmartIR). In addition, we acknowledge the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) for access to the CVD system.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    M. Said Ergoktas, Gokhan Bakan, Pietro Steiner, Xiaoxiao Yu & Coskun Kocabas

  2. National Graphene Institute (NGI), University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    M. Said Ergoktas, Gokhan Bakan, Lewis W. Le Fevre, Richard P. Fields, Pietro Steiner, Xiaoxiao Yu, Vladimir I. Fal’ko, Kostya S. Novoselov, Robert A. W. Dryfe & Coskun Kocabas

  3. Department of Physics, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey

    Evgeniya Kovalska & Omer Salihoglu

  4. Department of Chemistry, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Lewis W. Le Fevre & Robert A. W. Dryfe

  5. Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Lewis W. Le Fevre

  6. Department of Photonics, Izmir Institute of Technology, Izmir, Turkey

    Sinan Balci

  7. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Vladimir I. Fal’ko & Kostya S. Novoselov

  8. Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Vladimir I. Fal’ko, Robert A. W. Dryfe & Coskun Kocabas

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  1. M. Said Ergoktas
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Contributions

C.K. conceived the idea. M.S.E. synthesized the graphene samples and fabricated the devices. M.S.E., G.B., E.K., O.S., S.B. and C.K. performed the experiments. L.W.L.F., R.P.F., P.S. and X.Y. helped with the fabrication of the devices. V.I.F., K.N. and R.A.W.D. assisted with data analysis and manuscript preparation. G.B., M.S.E. and C.K. analysed the data and wrote the manuscript with input from all the authors. All authors discussed the results and contributed to the scientific interpretation as well as to the writing of the manuscript. VIF and KSN acknowledge support from EU Flagship Programs (Graphene CNECTICT-604391 and 2D-SIPC Quantum Technology), European Research Council Synergy Grant Hetero2D, the Royal Society, EPSRC grants EP/N010345/1, EP/P026850/1, EP/S030719/1.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Coskun Kocabas.

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Competing interests

C.K. is involved in activities towards the commercialization of graphene-based optical surfaces by SmartIR Ltd. The work is subject to a patent application by C.K., M.S.E. and G.B. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Peer review information Nature Photonics thanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Figs. 1–31, notes 1–8, Tables 1–3 and references 1–32.

Supplementary Video 1

Visible colour change of the device during charging and discharging cycles. The device was discharged through an LED load.

Supplementary Video 2

(i) Modulation of both the visible and infrared properties. The voltage was measured as 3.82 V when fully charged. (ii,iii) Independent modulation of the infrared and visible reflection. For the infrared modulation only, the voltage was kept less than 3.6 V. In all cases, the device was charged with 4 mA and discharged with −4 mA.

Supplementary Video 3

Video showing adaptation of the infrared appearance to a (i) cold and (ii) hot background.

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Ergoktas, M.S., Bakan, G., Kovalska, E. et al. Multispectral graphene-based electro-optical surfaces with reversible tunability from visible to microwave wavelengths. Nat. Photon. 15, 493–498 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00791-1

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