Open AccessBroadband enhancement of thermal radiation
Author(s) -
Gaurang R. Bhatt,
Avik Dutt,
Steven A. Miller,
Raphael StGelais,
F. A. S. Barbosa,
P. Nussenzveig,
Michal Lipson
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.00a818
Subject(s) - emissivity , black body radiation , broadband , optics , common emitter , materials science , thermal radiation , optoelectronics , thermal , low emissivity , radiation , molar absorptivity , physics , meteorology , thermodynamics
Broadband thermal radiation sources are critical for various applications including spectroscopy and electricity generation. However, due to the difficulty in simultaneously achieving high absorptivity and low thermal mass these sources are inefficient. We show a platform that enables one to obtain enhanced emission by coupling a thermal emitter to an optical cavity. We experimentally demonstrate broadband enhancement of thermal emission between λ ~2 ̶ 4.2 μm using an inherently poor thermal emitter consisting of tens of nanometers thick SiC film with 10% emissivity (ε SiC ~0.1). We measure over twofold enhancement of total emission power over the entire spectral band and threefold enhancement of thermal emission over 3 to 3.4 μm. Our platform has the potential to enable development of ideal blackbody sources operating at substantially lower heating powers.