Ideal spectral emissivity design for extreme radiative cooling

Abstract: Radiative coolers that can passively cool objects by radiating heat into the outer space have recently received much attention. However, the ultimate limits of their performance as well as their ideal spectral design are still unknown. We present the fundamental lower bound of the temperature of a radiatively cooled object on earth surfaces under general conditions, including non-radiative heat transfer, and the upper bound of the net radiative power density of a radiative cooler as a function of temperature. We derive the ideal spectral emissivities that can realize such bounds and, contrary to common belief, find that the ideal emission window is different from 8 to 13 um and forms disjointed sets of wavelengths, whose width diminishes at lower temperatures. We show that ideal radiative coolers with perfect thermal insulation against conduction and convection have a steady-state temperature of 243.6 K in summer and 180.5 K in winter, much below previously measured values. We also provide the ideal emission window for a single-band emitter and show that this window should be much narrower than that of previous designs if the objective is to build a radiative freezer that can operate in summer. We provide a general guideline for designing spectral emissivity to achieve the maximum temperature drop or the maximum net radiative power density.