Flexible Meta-Tape with Wide Gamut, Low Lightness and Low Infrared Emissivity for Visible-Infrared Camouflage.

Abstract

Full-spectral optical camouflage is of broad interest and in urgent demand because of everlasting safety pursuit in modern society. However, the widely existing dim scenarios call for not only broadband low thermal detectivity but also wide-gamut camouflaging colors with both low lightness and minimal chromatism. Here, a tape-like metamaterial (meta-tape) with broad spectral manipulation bandwidth from visible to mid-infrared is demonstrated. The ultrathin meta-tapes can exhibit different colors with wide gamut and low lightness from 20 to 40, enabling low color difference under various backgrounds down to 1.2 L*a*b*. The infrared emissivity is simultaneously suppressed down to 3.8% across 3 - 14 µm. The outstanding optical performances are well preserved under various mechanical and thermal stability tests. The pronounced multispectral camouflage, combined with flexible and robust tape-like nature, makes the meta-tape a promising solution for VIS-IR compatible camouflage in diverse scenarios.