Optimized Colossal Near-Field Thermal Radiation Enabled by Manipulating Coupled Plasmon Polariton Geometry.

TLDR: In this paper, a supported multilayer graphene structure was proposed to improve the state of the art with a ∼ 1129 fold-enhancement at a gap distance of ∼ 55 nm, where the plasmon polaritons at mid and far-infrared frequencies allowed for near-unity photon tunneling across a broad swath of k-space.

Abstract: Collective optoelectronic phenomena such as plasmons and phonon polaritons can drive processes in many branches of nanoscale science. Classical physics predicts that a perfect thermal emitter operates at the black body limit. Numerous experiments have shown that surface phonon polaritons allow emission two orders of magnitude above the limit at a gap distance of ∼ 50 nm. This work shows that a supported multilayer graphene structure improves the state of the art by around one order of magnitude with a ∼ 1129 fold-enhancement at a gap distance of ∼ 55 nm. Coupled surface plasmon polaritons at mid- and far-infrared frequencies allow for near-unity photon tunneling across a broad swath of k-space enabling the improved result. Electric tuning of the Fermi-level allows for the detailed characterization and optimization of the colossal nanoscale heat transfer. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.