Open AccessNovel and efficient Mie-metamaterial thermal emitter for thermophotovoltaic systems
Author(s) -
Alok Ghanekar,
Laura Lin,
Yi Zheng
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.00a868
Subject(s) - thermophotovoltaic , common emitter , materials science , metamaterial , optoelectronics , refractive index , thin film , photovoltaics , optics , mie scattering , dielectric , thermal , quantum efficiency , nanotechnology , photovoltaic system , light scattering , ecology , physics , scattering , biology , meteorology
We theoretically demonstrate a novel, efficient and cost effective thermal emitter using a Mie-resonance metamaterial for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) applications. We propose for the first time the design of a thermal emitter which is based on nanoparticle-embedded thin film. The emitter consists of a thin film of SiO 2 on the top of tungsten layer deposited on a substrate. The thin film is embedded with tungsten nanoparticles which alter the refractive index of the film. This gives rise to desired emissive properties in the wavelength range of 0.4 μm to 2 μm suitable for GaSb and InGaAs based photovoltaics. Effective dielectric properties are calculated using Maxwell-Garnett-Mie theory. Our calculations indicate this would significantly improve the efficiency of TPV cells. We introduce a new parameter to gauge the efficacy of thermal emitters and use it to compare different designs.