Photonic Crystal Enabled Thermophotovoltaics for a Portable Microgenerator

Abstract

This work presents the design and characterization of a first-of-a-kind millimeter- scale thermophotovoltaic (TPV) system using a metallic microburner, photonic crystal emitter, and low-bandgap photovoltaic (PV) cells. In our TPV system, combustion heats the emitter to incandescence and the resulting thermal radiation is converted to electricity by the low bandgap PV cells. Our motivation is to harness the high specific energy of hydrocarbon fuels at the micro- and millimeter-scale in order to meet the increasing power demands of micro robotics and portable electronics. Our experimental demonstration lays the groundwork for developing a TPV microgenerator as a viable battery replacement.