Realization of energy-saving glass using photonic crystals

This work successfully developed an energysaving glass with wavelength selectivity. The glass is composed of a SiO2 substrate and two layers of threedimensional photonic crystals. Each crystal is composed of identical and transparent polystyrene spheres after their self-assembling. The glass then possesses dual photonic band gaps in the near-infrared region to suppress penetration of thermal radiation. Experimental results show that the energy-saving glass decreases temperature increment in a mini-house. Moreover, the temperature after thermal equilibrium is lower than that inside a counterpart using ordinary glass.