Selective suppression of thermal emission from radomes and materials selection therefor

Abstract

The possibility of using selectively low emission to reduce the thermal signature of radomes is identified. A material can simultaneously have low radiance in the working range of a detector and cool radiatively to the surrounding atmosphere. If the band of low emission is based on lattice excitation, the signature reduction is compatible with electrically insulating properties and radar transmittance. High-density, polycrystalline beryllium oxide is identified as a material with low emittance in the upper atmospheric window at 8 to 13 μm, owing to a strong reststrahlen band. Radiometer measurements and bulk reflectance spectra are reported for ceramic BeO and are used to calculate the thermal infrared emission factors as well as the radiance for a 50°C BeO surface. The results depend heavily upon the short wavelength threshold of the detector. The calculated values have been compared with radiometer measurements in the 3- to 5-μm and 8- to 13-μm ranges. The possibility of reducing the emittance even further with a second material has been investigated with Fresnel calculations. Very favorable calculated and measured results for a 0.8-μm silicon overlayer on BeO are reported.