Diagram of Setup and Results (IMAGE) Harvard University Caption Left: This diagram shows the experimental setup used for measuring the reflectivity of the vanadium-sapphire device. The vanadium oxide layer is only 180 nanometers thick, much thinner than the wavelength of the incident infrared light. Right: At just the right temperature (light blue line), the reflectivity of the device drops almost to zero (99.75 percent absorbance) for infrared light at a wavelength of 11.6 microns. Credit Illustrations courtesy of Mikhail Kats. Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.