Thermal runaway occurs when a rise in system temperature results in heatgeneration rates exceeding dissipation rates. Here we demonstrate that thermalrunaway occurs in thermal radiative systems, given a sufficient level ofnegative differential thermal emission. By exploiting the insulator-to-metalphase transition of vanadium dioxide, we show that a small increase in heatgeneration (e.g., 10 nW/mm2) can result in a large change in surfacetemperature (e.g., ~35 K), as the thermal emitter switches from high emissivityto low emissivity. While thermal runaway is typically associated withcatastrophic failure mechanisms, detailed understanding and control of thisphenomenon may give rise to new opportunities in infrared sensing, camouflage,and rectification.
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