Near-field Thermal Radiation Research Articles

Near-Field Thermal Radiation between Nanostructures of Natural Anisotropic Material

While nanostructures exhibit remarkable optical and thermal properties, including super-Planckian emission beyond the black-body limit, they are usually made of isotropic materials; anisotropic nanostructures are rarely considered, despite their potential for applications. Investigating near-field thermal radiation between gratings of natural anisotropic graphite, the authors find that nanopatterning enhances heat flux dramatically, due to the excitation of anisotropic surface modes not possessed by plain graphite. This deepened understanding could open routes to more efficient thermal management and thermophotovoltaic energy conversion.

Super-Planckian thermal radiation enabled by coupled quasi-elliptic 2D black phosphorus plasmons

New-joined 2D layered material – black phosphorus (BP), due to strong in-plane structural anisotropy, has exhibited exotic electrical, optical, and thermal properties while its thermal radiative properties are still largely unexplored. Here, we investigate near-field thermal radiation of mono/multilayer BP, and find that monolayer BP can support three-order-of-magnitude enhanced heat exchange over blackbodies, even exceeding optimized graphene sheets by around 18.5%. We derive the dispersion relation of coupled anisotropic BP surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs), which is find to have a good agreement with the energy transmission contour of evanescent waves. The prominent thermal radiation rate thus can be attributed to the excitation of quasi-elliptic BP SPPs enabled by its unique structural anisotropy and doping. With increasing number of layers, near-field radiative heat flux decreases monotonously. The underlying mechanism lies in the increased imaginary part of optical conductivity but weak coupling with high-wavevector photons. This work helps elucidate the near-field thermal radiation mechanism of mono/multilayer BP, and paves the way for the application of emerging BP in noncontact thermal management and energy conversion.

Dynamic optical control of near-field radiative transfer.

Dynamic control of radiative heat transfer is of fundamental interest as well as for applications in thermal management and energy conversion. However, realizing high contrast control of heat flow without moving parts and with high temporal frequencies remains a challenge. Here, we propose a thermal modulation scheme based on optical pumping of semiconductors in near-field radiative contact. External photo-excitation of the semiconductor emitters leads to increases in the free carrier concentration that in turn alters the plasma frequency, resulting in modulation of near-field thermal radiation. The temporal frequency of the modulation can reach hundreds of kHz limited only by the recombination lifetime, greatly exceeding the bandwidth of methods based on temperature modulcation. Calculations based on fluctuational electrodynamics show that the heat transfer coefficient between two silicon films can be tuned from near zero to 600 Wm-2K-1 with a gap distance of 100 nm at room temperature.

Feedback control of local hotspot temperature using resistive on-substrate nanoheater/thermometer.

This article reports the active control of a local hotspot temperature for accurate nanoscale thermal transport measurement. To this end, we have fabricated resistive on-substrate nanoheater/thermometer (NH/T) devices that have a sensing area of ∼350 nm × 300 nm. Feedback-controlled temporal heating and cooling experiments of the NH/T device confirm that the feedback integral gain plays a dominant role in device's response time for various setpoint temperatures. To further verify the integration of the feedback controller with the NH/T devices, a local tip-induced cooling experiment is performed by scanning a silicon tip over the hotspot area in an atomic force microscope platform. By carefully optimizing the feedback gain and the tip scan speed, we can control the hotspot temperature with the accuracy of ∼±1 K for a broad range of setpoints from 325 K to 355 K. The obtained tip-substrate thermal conductance, including the effects of solid-solid conduction, water meniscus, air conduction, and near-field thermal radiation, is found to be a slightly increasing function of temperature in the range of 127 ± 25 to 179 ± 16 nW/K. Our work demonstrates the reliable controllability of a local hotspot temperature, which will allow the further improvement of various nanoscale thermal metrologies including scanning thermal microscopy and nanoscale thermometry.

Enhancing thermal radiation by graphene-assisted hBN/SiO2 hybrid structures at the nanoscale.

A graphene-assisted hBN/SiO2 hybrid structure is proposed and demonstrated to enhance near-field thermal radiation (NFTR). Due to the complementarity between the hyperbolic phonon polaritons of hBN and the surface phonon polaritons of SiO2 at mid-infrared frequencies, coupling modes can remarkably improve the photon tunneling probability over a broad frequency band, especially when assisted by the surface plasmon polaritons of graphene sheets. Thus, the heat flux can exceed the blackbody limit by 4 orders of magnitude at a separation distance of 10 nm and reach 97% of the infinite limit of graphene-hBN multilayers using only two layers with a thickness of 20 nm each. The first graphene layer controls most of the heat flux, while the other layers can be used to regulate and optimize. The dynamic relationship between the chemical potential μ and the gap distance d are thoroughly discussed. Optimal heat flux of our graphene-assisted hBN/SiO2 hybrid structure with proper choices of (μ1, μ2, μ3) for different d (from 10 nm to 1000 nm) is further increased by 28.2% on average in comparison with the existing graphene-hBN triple-layer structure.

Precision Measurement of Phonon-Polaritonic Near-Field Energy Transfer between Macroscale Planar Structures Under Large Thermal Gradients.

Despite its strong potentials in emerging energy applications, near-field thermal radiation between large planar structures has not been fully explored in experiments. Particularly, it is extremely challenging to control a subwavelength gap distance with good parallelism under large thermal gradients. This article reports the precision measurement of near-field radiative energy transfer between two macroscale single-crystalline quartz plates that support surface phonon polaritons. Our measurement scheme allows the precise control of a gap distance down to 200nm in a highly reproducible manner for a surface area of 5×5 mm^{2}. We have measured near-field thermal radiation as a function of the gap distance for a broad range of thermal gradients up to ∼156 K, observing more than 40 times enhancement of thermal radiation compared to the blackbody limit. By comparing with theoretical prediction based on fluctuational electrodynamics, we demonstrate that such remarkable enhancement is owing to phonon-polaritonic energy transfer across a nanoscale vacuum gap.

Near-field radiative transfer in spectrally tunable double-layer phonon-polaritonic metamaterials

Understanding of near-field radiative transfer is crucial for many advanced applications such as nanoscale energy harvesting, nano-manufacturing, thermal imaging, and radiative cooling. Near-field radiative transfer has been shown to be dependent on the material and morphological characteristics of systems, the gap distances between structures, and their temperatures. Surface interactions of phononic materials in close proximity of each other has led to promising results for novel near-field radiative transfer applications. For systems involving thin films and small structures, as the dimension(s) through which the heat transfer takes place is/are on the order of sub-micrometers, it is important to identify the impacts of size-related parameters on the results. In this work, we investigated the impact of geometric design and characteristics in a double-layer metamaterial system made up of GaN, SiC, h-BN; all of which have potential importance in micro-and nano-technological systems. The numerical study is performed using the NF-RT-FDTD algorithm, which is a versatile method to study near-field thermal radiation performances of advanced configurations of materials, even with arbitrary shapes. We have systematically investigated the thin film thickness, the substrate material, and the nanostructured surfaces effects, and reported on the best combination of scenarios among the studied cases to obtain maximum enhancement of radiative heat transfer rate. The findings of this work may be used in design and fabrication of new corrugated surfaces for energy harvesting purposes.

High-performance noncontact thermal diode via asymmetric nanostructures

Electric diodes, though laying the foundation of modern electronics and information processing industries, suffer from ineffectiveness and even failure at high temperatures. Thermal diodes are promising alternatives to relieve above limitations, but usually possess low rectification ratios, and how to obtain a high-performance thermal rectification effect is still an open question. This paper proposes an efficient contactless thermal diode based on the near-field thermal radiation of asymmetric doped silicon nanostructures. The rectification ratio computed via exact scattering theories is demonstrated to be as high as 10 at a nanoscale gap distance and period, outperforming the counterpart flat-plate diode by more than one order of magnitude. This extraordinary performance mainly lies in the higher forward and lower reverse radiative heat flux within the low frequency band compared with the counterpart flat-plate diode, which is caused by a lower loss and smaller cut-off wavevector of nanostructures for the forward and reversed scheme, respectively. This work opens new routes to realize high performance thermal diodes, and may have wide applications in efficient thermal computing, thermal information processing, and thermal management.

基于微型传感器的近场辐射传热实验方法研究 Studying on the Experimental Method of Near-Field Thermal Radiation Based on Micro Sensors

面向二氧化硅(SiO2)材料开展了近场辐射传热实验测量方法研究，其核心工作是近场热辐射传感器设计。首先，基于电磁波理论以两个平行的SiO2平板为对象分析近场热辐射的特性并以此确定近场热辐射传感器的关键参数；其次，根据近场热辐射的作用效果确定实验方案并设计相应的近场热辐射传感器；再次，基于经典传热理论确定实验模型，以及设计传感器的微加工工艺；最后，本实验方法在其他介质的近场辐射传热测量中的应用。 The experimental method of near-field thermal radiation between two Silicon oxide (SiO2) plates was developed. The key work is the near-field thermal radiation (NFTR) sensor design. Firstly, the character of the near field thermal radiation between two parallel SiO2 plates was analyzed based on the electromagnetic wave theory, and the key parameter of the NFTR sensor was chosen. Se-condly, according to the difference effect of the thermal radiation emitter and the thermal radiation absorber, two kinds of experimental plan were made and the NFTR sensor was designed, separately. Thirdly, the experimental model was built by the classical heat transfer theory and the micromachining process of the NFTR sensor was developed. Finally, the experimental method was extended to evaluate the near-field thermal radiation between other medium.

Anisotropic Thermal Magnetoresistance for an Active Control of Radiative Heat Transfer

The discovery that the near-field radiative heat transfer enables to overcome the limit set by Planck’s law holds the promise to have an impact in different nanotechnologies that make use of thermal radiation, and the challenge now is to find strategies to actively control and manipulate this near-field thermal radiation. Here, we predict a huge anisotropic thermal magnetoresistance (ATMR) in the near-field radiative heat transfer between magneto-optical particles when the direction of an external magnetic field is changed with respect to the heat current direction. We illustrate this effect with the case of two InSb particles where we find that the ATMR amplitude can reach values of up to 800% for a magnetic field of 5 T, which is many orders of magnitude larger than its spintronic analogue. This thermomagnetic effect could find broad applications in the field of ultrafast thermal management as well as magnetic and thermal remote sensing.

Spectral Control of Near-Field Thermal Radiation With Periodic Cross Resonance Metasurfaces

Near-field thermal spectra can be engineered using periodic cross resonance metasurfaces. Structures consisting of single crosses, double crosses, and multiple crosses are proposed to control the spectral heat flux from narrow band to broadband with the Fabry-Perot-cavity-like effect and the interaction between the emitter and receiver. Radiation peaks originating from the cross structures split into two adjacent peaks in the near-field, due to the separate contributions of s- and p-polariton modes. Their frequency can be manipulated by adjusting the length of the crosses. Multiple radiation peaks can be generated by double crosses, and due to the strong coupling of resonance modes, multiple crosses can yield a broadband thermal spectrum ranging from 100-180 THz, with the total heat flux two orders of magnitude above the blackbody limit. The inherent physical mechanisms are illustrated by analyzing the energy transmission coefficients of the cross structures. The features of the radiation peaks and spectra are robust to the change of the gap distance or the temperature, which is advantageous for both the experimental design and fabrication of thermal radiation devices.

Near-field radiative thermoelectric energy converters: a review

Radiative thermoelectric energy converters, which include thermophotovoltaic cells, thermoradiative cells, electroluminescent refrigerators, and negative electroluminescent refrigerators, are semiconductor p-n devices that either generate electricity or extract heat from a cold body while exchanging thermal radiation with their surroundings. If this exchange occurs at micro or nanoscale distances, power densities can be greatly enhanced and near-field radiation effects may improve performance. This review covers the fundamentals of near-field thermal radiation, photon entropy, and nonequilibrium effects in semiconductor diodes that underpin device operation. The development and state of the art of these near-field converters are discussed in detail, and remaining challenges and opportunities for progress are identified.

Near-field radiative heat transfer in graphene plasmonic nanodisk dimers

Near-field thermal radiation mediated by surface plasmons in parallel graphene nanodisk dimers is studied using a semianalytical model under the electrostatic approximation. The radiative heat transfer between two disks as a function of the distance between them in coaxial and coplanar configurations is first considered. Three regimes are identified and their extents determined using nondimensional analysis. When the edge-to-edge separation is smaller than the disk diameter, near-field coupling and surface plasmon hybridization lead to an enhancement of the radiative heat transfer by up to four orders of magnitude compared to the Planck blackbody limit. A mismatch in the disk diameters affects the plasmonic mode hybridization and can either diminish or enhance the near-field radiation. Destructive interference between eigenmodes that emerge when the relative orientation between disks is varied can induce a twofold reduction in the radiative heat transfer. In all configurations, the radiative heat transfer properties can be controlled by tuning the disk size/orientation, the substrate optical properties, and graphene's doping concentration and electron mobility.

Near-field thermal radiation of deep- subwavelength slits in the near infrared range.

We numerically investigate the thermal radiation of one-dimensional deep subwavelength slits in the near infrared range. Using numerical calculations of single-slit and multi-slit structures, we find that high-level radiation efficiency can be achieved for a wide spectrum when ultra-thin intermediate layers are used, and it is less affected by structure parameters. The underlying mechanisms involve Surface Plasmon Polaritons resonance and Fabry-Perot interference at each slit and the interaction between adjacent slits. This structure helps understand and improve the design of thermal radiation control devices.

Meshed doped silicon photonic crystals for manipulating near-field thermal radiation

The ability to control and manipulate heat flow is of great interest to thermal management and thermal logic and memory devices. Particularly, near-field thermal radiation presents a unique opportunity to enhance heat transfer while being able to tailor its characteristics (e.g., spectral selectivity). However, achieving nanometric gaps, necessary for near-field, has been and remains a formidable challenge. Here, we demonstrate significant enhancement of the near-field heat transfer through meshed photonic crystals with separation gaps above 0.5 µm. Using a first-principle method, we investigate the meshed photonic structures numerically via finite-difference time-domain technique (FDTD) along with the Langevin approach. Results for doped-silicon meshed structures show significant enhancement in heat transfer; 26 times over the non-meshed corrugated structures. This is especially important for thermal management and thermal rectification applications. The results also support the premise that thermal radiation at micro scale is a bulk (rather than a surface) phenomenon; the increase in heat transfer between two meshed-corrugated surfaces compared to the flat surface (8.2) wasn't proportional to the increase in the surface area due to the corrugations (9). Results were further validated through good agreements between the resonant modes predicted from the dispersion relation (calculated using a finite-element method), and transmission factors (calculated from FDTD).

Thermal conductance and thermoelectric figure of merit of C60 -based single-molecule junctions: Electrons, phonons, and photons

Motivated by recent experiments, we present here an ab initio study of the impact of the phonon transport on the thermal conductance and thermoelectric figure of merit of ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$-based single-molecule junctions. To be precise, we combine density functional theory with nonequilibrium Green's-function techniques to compute these two quantities in junctions with either a ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ monomer or a ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ dimer connected to gold electrodes, taking into account the contributions of both electrons and phonons. Our results show that for ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ monomer junctions phonon transport plays a minor role in the thermal conductance and, in turn, in the figure of merit, which can reach values on the order of 0.1, depending on the contact geometry. In ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ dimer junctions, phonons are transported less efficiently, but they completely dominate the thermal conductance and reduce the figure of merit as compared to monomer junctions. Thus, claims that by stacking ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ molecules one could achieve high thermoelectric performance, which have been made without considering the phonon contribution, are not justified. Moreover, we analyze the relevance of near-field thermal radiation for the figure of merit of these junctions within the framework of fluctuational electrodynamics. We conclude that photon tunneling can be another detrimental factor for the thermoelectric performance, which has been overlooked so far in the field of molecular electronics. Our study illustrates the crucial roles that phonon transport and photon tunneling can play, when critically assessing the performance of molecular junctions as potential nanoscale thermoelectric devices.

Near-field enhanced thermionic energy conversion for renewable energy recycling

This article proposes a new energy harvesting concept that greatly enhances thermionic power generation with high efficiency by exploiting the near-field enhancement of thermal radiation. The proposed near-field enhanced thermionic energy conversion (NETEC) system is uniquely configured with a low-bandgap semiconductor cathode separated from a thermal emitter with a subwavelength gap distance, such that a significant amount of electrons can be photoexcited by near-field thermal radiation to contribute to the enhancement of thermionic current density. We theoretically demonstrate that the NETEC system can generate electric power at a significantly lower temperature than the standard thermionic generator, and the energy conversion efficiency can exceed 40%. The obtained results reveal that near-field photoexcitation can enhance the thermionic power output by more than 10 times, making this hybrid system attractive for renewable energy recycling.

Enhanced Near-Field Thermal Radiation Based on Multilayer Graphene-hBN Heterostructures

Graphene-covered hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) can exceed blackbody thermal radiation in near-field due to the coupling of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and hyperbolic phonon polaritons (HPPs). As previous research found that the thickness of hBN in a graphene-hBN cell can be very thin while still presenting strong radiation enhancement, multilayer graphene-hBN heterostructures are proposed in this paper to further enhance the near-field thermal radiation. We found that a heterostructure consisting of five or more graphene-hBN cells performs better than all existing graphene-hBN configurations, and the infinite cell limit exhibits 1.87- and 2.94-fold larger heat flux at 10 nm separation than sandwich and monocell structures do, respectively, due to the continuously and perfectly coupled modes. The heat flux is found to be 4 orders of magnitude larger than that of the blackbody. The effective tunability of the thermal radiation of the multicell structure is also observed by adjusting the chemical poten...

High Temperature Near-Field NanoThermoMechanical Rectification

Limited performance and reliability of electronic devices at extreme temperatures, intensive electromagnetic fields, and radiation found in space exploration missions (i.e., Venus & Jupiter planetary exploration, and heliophysics missions) and earth-based applications requires the development of alternative computing technologies. In the pursuit of alternative technologies, research efforts have looked into developing thermal memory and logic devices that use heat instead of electricity to perform computations. However, most of the proposed technologies operate at room or cryogenic temperatures, due to their dependence on material’s temperature-dependent properties. Here in this research, we show experimentally—for the first time—the use of near-field thermal radiation (NFTR) to achieve thermal rectification at high temperatures, which can be used to build high-temperature thermal diodes for performing logic operations in harsh environments. We achieved rectification through the coupling between NFTR and the size of a micro/nano gap separating two terminals, engineered to be a function of heat flow direction. We fabricated and tested a proof-of-concept NanoThermoMechanical device that has shown a maximum rectification of 10.9% at terminals’ temperatures of 375 and 530 K. Experimentally, we operated the microdevice in temperatures as high as about 600 K, demonstrating this technology’s suitability to operate at high temperatures.

Near-field thermal radiation transfer between semiconductors based on thickness control and introduction of photonic crystals

We numerically investigate the spectral control of near-field thermal radiation transfer using interband absorption in semiconductors and the band-folding effect in photonic crystals (PCs) for highly efficient thermophotovoltaics. We reveal that the near-field coupling between two semiconductors (Si and GaSb) realizes frequency-selective thermal radiation transfer concentrated above their bandgap energy when their thicknesses are optimized considering their absorption coefficient spectra. Moreover, we elucidate the role of PC structures in the near-field thermal radiation transfer and demonstrate that the band-folding effect in PCs can further increase both the radiation power and frequency selectivity of the near-field thermal radiation transfer.