Novel WO3-Based Electrochromic Device for High Optical Modulation and Infrared Suppression

This letter presents a novel electrochromic (EC) device based on WO
₃
/aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO)/Au/AZO. The WO
₃
/AZO/Au/AZO films were prepared through simultaneous radio frequency magnetron sputtering (for the WO
₃
and AZO films) and ion sputtering (for the Au film). The WO
₃
/AZO/Au/AZO structure features high optical modulation and effective infrared suppression that facilitates achieving high performance and low emission in the EC device. At a wavelength of 550 nm, the EC device achieved an optical modulation depth of 80%, which is the difference between the transmittance of the colored state (7.92%) and that of the bleached state (88.74%). The rapid response time of the device was ~9.9 s for the colored state and 4.7 s for the bleached state.