Metasurface with all-optical tunability for spatially-resolved and multilevel thermal radiation

Manipulating the thermal emission in the infrared (IR) range significantly impacts both fundamental scientific research and various technological applications, including IR thermal camouflage, information encryption, and radiative cooling. While prior research has put forth numerous materials and structures for these objectives, the significant challenge lies in attaining spatially resolved and dynamically multilevel control over their thermal emissions. In this study, a one-step ultrafast laser writing technique is experimentally demonstrated to achieve position-selective control over thermal emission based on the phase-change material Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST). Ultrafast laser writing technique enables direct fabrication and manipulation of laser-induced crystalline micro/nano-structures on GST films. Thermal emission can be precisely controlled by adjusting the pulse energy of the ultrafast laser, achieving a high thermal emissivity modulation precision of 0.0014. By controlling thermal emission, the ultrafast laser writing technique enables multilevel patterned processing. This provides a promising approach for multilevel IR thermal camouflage, which is demonstrated with emissivity-modulated GST emitters. Remarkably, ultrafast laser-induced crystalline micro/nano-structures display geometric grating features, resulting in a diffraction-based structural color effect. This study demonstrates the effective use of laser-printed patterns for storing information in both visible and infrared spectrum.