Abstract
Thermal management is crucial for high-functional spacecrafts under rapid temperature fluctuations. Since thermal radiation is the only means for heat removal, active control of radiation is required for advanced space missions. We has proposed MEMS active radiator using the near-field radiation effect. Unlike previous bulky thermal louvers/shutters, higher fill factor can be accomplished with an array of electrostatically-driven micro diaphragms. In this report, an improved prototype for near-field radiation is proposed with a MEMS-based parallel-plate configuration, which enables a submicron gap.
