Emissivity and Optical Properties of Thin-Film Metallic Glass in the Thermal Infrared Region

This study displays the emissivities and optical properties of thin-film metallic glasses in the thermal infrared (IR) region. It is found that the amorphous structure of the metallic glass hinders the movement of electrons, leading to unique optical properties in the thermal IR region. Measurements of the optical constants of NiNb thin-film metallic glasses reveal that a high processing pressure and sputtering power yield high optical conductivity and a low damping constant. Adjusting the parameters of the sputtering processes allows the fabrication of thin-film metallic glasses with a range of damping constants and also the change in the reflectance and emissivity. Applying optical thin film theory, the emissivity of thin-film metallic glass in the thermal IR region can be modulated. The measured emissivity of the thin-film metallic glass (45.35%) is significantly enhanced when compared with that of a Si substrate or metal film. Furthermore, the cooling ability of the optimal metallic glass is much higher than that of Si and metal films. These findings reveal that metallic glass films can display thermal radiative properties superior to those of metals and semiconductors, making them promising materials for use in electronic devices with excellent mechanical characteristics and heat dissipation properties. Besides excellent mechanical properties, metallic glasses also have distinct optical properties and thermal radiation properties due to the amorphous structure. The optical properties of metallic glass films can be greatly modulated with different deposition processes. Moreover, metallic glass films with high emissivity can be obtained by applying optical thin film theory. The result shows that metallic glass films have great potential for improving the performance of electronic and optoelectronic devices and systems.image