Large penetration depth of near-field heat flux in hyperbolic media

Journal
Applied physics letters  
Volume
104
Issue
12
Article Number
121903
Citation
Appl. Phys. Lett. 104 (12): 121903 (2014)
Publisher DOI
10.1063/1.4869490
Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84897401126
ArXiv ID
1403.5443v1
Publisher
American Institute of Physics
We compare super-Planckian thermal radiation between phonon-polaritonic media and hyperbolic metamaterials. In particular, we determine the penetration depth of thermal photons inside the absorbing medium for three different structures: two semi-infinite phonon-polaritonic media supporting surface modes, two multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials and two nanowire hyperbolic metamaterials. We show that for hyperbolic modes the penetration depth can be orders of magnitude larger than for surface modes suggesting that hyperbolic materials are much more preferable for near-field thermophotovoltaic applications than pure phonon-polaritonic materials.
Subjects
Physics - Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect
Physics - Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect
DDC Class
530: Physik
Funding(s)
SFB 986: Teilprojekt C1 - Strukturierte Emitter für effiziente und effektive Thermophotovoltaik  
Funding Organisations
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)  
Stiftung der Metallindustrie im Nord-Westen
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)  
Partenariat Hubert Curien Procope Program
More Funding Information
The authors from Hamburg University of Technology gratefully acknowledge financial support from the German Research Foundation (DFG) via SFB 986 “M3,” Project C1. M.T. gratefully acknowledges support from the Stiftung der Metallindustrie im Nord-Westen. S.-A.B. and M.T. acknowledge financial support by the DAAD and Partenariat Hubert Curien Procope Program (Project 55923991).