From thin films and smart windows to colour-tuned bandwidth, Pandurang Ashrit is working at the speed of light

It’s the hottest day of summer, and you know you’re going to get a blast of heat when you open your car door. The days of overheated vehicles might soon be over, though, if you’re lucky enough to have Pandurang Ashrit’s new thin film on your windows.

Here’s how it works: As soon as the film hits 68ºC, it reflects the infrared light that turns your car into a furnace. It works well in winter too, letting the sunlight shine through the windows. That’s the simple explanation. What actually happens would make your head spin, judging by the formulae on the white board in Ashrit’s office at the Université de Moncton. Luckily, the director of the university’s Photonics and Thin Films Research Group has the ability to translate complicated calculations into clear concepts.

“It’s not easy to understand the science of thin films the first time around, but Pandurang always finds a way to explain it,” says Gisele Levesque, an innovation agent at the Université de Moncton. “Plus, he has the ability to keep a group of 20 research scientists headed in the same direction.” 

One of those researchers, Alain Haché, admires that ability and what Ashrit has done to advance the success of his team. “In the last decade, he has been a key player in bringing large research grants that have enabled us to modernize our research facility,” says Haché. “He’s tireless and easy to work with.”

Smart windows are just one application of Ashrit’s thin film; it’s also being developed for use in satellites. When facing the sun, their internal temperature can reach 150ºC. As a result, bulky and power-hungry cooling systems are needed. Coating a satellite with Ashrit’s film could reduce the risk of mechanical failure and create more payload space. 

Interestingly, Ashrit’s goal isn’t just product development. It’s also about taking the transition temperature of his thin film—the point at which it blocks heat-producing infrared light—as low as it can go. So far he’s the only scientist in the world getting certain results, and he’s already on the path to the holy grail of transition points: room temperature. “Pandurang doesn’t give up easily, which is important considering he works in a field that doesn’t get results on the first try,” says Réjean Hall, the Université de Moncton’s director of Innovation Support Services.

In April Ashrit received a Canadian and U.S. patent on a chromogenically tunable photonic crystal (translation: a technology that allows data to flow through fiber optic cables along specific bands of the colour spectrum). Instead of data getting pushed through one chaotic pipe, service providers will be able to create a of rainbow channels, opening up new possibilities for bandwidth and speed.