A Simply Structured VO2 Planar Microcavity for Dynamic Visible Camouflage and Low-Emittance Background Matching

Developing dynamic multispectral camouflage remains a grand challenge due to the structural complexity and contradictory thermal-optical requirements of cross-band signature management. Herein, a simplified VO2-based multispectral dynamic modulation device (MSDM), featuring a four-layer HfO2/VO2/HfO2/Ag planar microcavity, is proposed. Underpinned by critical coupling and optical coherent amplification, the device exploits the insulator-to-metal transition of VO2 to trigger a prominent dynamic color difference (ΔE = 33) in the visible spectrum without requiring sophisticated micro/nanopatterning. Crucially, MSDM inherently maintains ultralow static infrared emittance (ε < 0.1) within atmospheric windows and low solar absorptance (αsol < 0.45), fundamentally circumventing stealth failure caused by solar-induced thermal runaway. Furthermore, the integration of an in situ ceramic microheater enables highly energy-efficient active modulation under a low power budget, facilitating a conceptually proposed cross-scenario environment-adaptive digital camouflage through an optimized pixelated matrix design. By exploiting the optical potential of structural simplicity, this work achieves the effective decoupling of visible and infrared signatures, providing a scalable and robust engineering paradigm for next-generation smart military survivability enhancement and intelligent adaptive camouflage platforms.