Multilayer thin-film based nanophotonic windows: static versus electrotunable design

To meet the global energy demand, rapid growth in fossil fuel consumption has significantly contributed to global warming. Judicious utilization of renewable energy resources could help to combat this global challenge. Here, we present a comparative study on the designs of static and electro-tunable ‘smart’ windows that could help to reduce the energy need of typical air-conditioning systems deployed in buildings and motor vehicles. Our design comprises insulator–metal–insulator multi-layered thin-films deposited over a silica glass substrate to filter visible and infrared solar radiation selectively. For static windows, we optimize our design to operate in diverse climatic conditions by choosing different combinations and thicknesses of metal and insulator layers. Whereas for electro-tunable windows, we use an electro–optic polymer as the insulator layers to dynamically control portions of transmitted solar radiation over a voltage range of −12 to +12 V. Through size-dependence analysis, we could safely assume that the performance of smart windows is less likely to degrade during experimental realization. Our designs are lithography-free, large-area compatible, polarization-independent, angle-insensitive, and robust to fabrication imperfections. The analytical results show a near-perfect match with the simulation findings. The theoretically calculated figure of merit indicates that our proposed smart windows can outperform industry-standard commercial windows.