ISI Brno — Institute of Scientific Instruments, Czech Academy of Sciences

Snapshot

Why it matters internationally

ISI Brno is a world-class niche center for cryogenic emissivity and absorptivity. Much emissivity work in the literature is concentrated at room or high temperature, but in cryogenics the radiative term can become decisive — and reliable data are scarce. The Brno group has built a coherent research program around thermal radiative properties for cryogenics, including a database of low-temperature hemispherical emissivities and absorptivities. It is a clear example of how the emissivity community is structured: not by one dominant center, but by highly specialized laboratories that solve hard measurement problems in complementary temperature regimes.

Scope of activity

Relevant unit

• Cryogenics group — radiative-properties activities. The dedicated “Emissivity” subpage lists low-temperature radiative-property measurements on samples with different finishes and coatings, alongside database-oriented work on low-temperature hemispherical emissivities and absorptivities.

Radiative properties measured

Hemispherical total emissivity at cryogenic T · cryogenic absorptivity.

Capability envelope

• Temperature: ~20 K to 300 K.
• Methodology: low-temperature radiative-property measurement on samples with different finishes and coatings; dedicated experimental approach for cryogenic hemispherical quantities.
• Database output: structured internal database of low-temperature hemispherical emissivities and absorptivities — a rare and valuable resource in this temperature regime.

Application domains

• Cryogenic engineering
• Heat-flow calculations at low T
• Low-temperature thermometry and radiation shielding
• Space-mission thermal design (where cryogenic radiative terms matter)

IR-EMPOWER contributions

• Tomáš Králík and Jiří Frolec — contributions on emissivity and absorptivity at cryogenic temperatures and thermal radiative properties of materials in the cryogenic regime.

Why ISI Brno is a reference pole

The cryogenic regime is where emissivity data are hardest to produce and most frequently missing from standard compilations. ISI Brno has chosen that exact gap and built a program around it — both measuring new data and curating them into a usable database. That combination of measurement and data stewardship in a narrow but critical regime makes it a de facto reference for anyone doing low-temperature thermal-radiation engineering.

External sources

• Emissivity — ISI Brno Cryogenics