Efficient silicon micro-reactors for thermophotovoltaic applications

Abstract

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems passively generate electricity from the combustion of fuel. Although TPV conversion systems have advantages, they suffer from low efficiency. This thesis investigates different ways to increase the efficiency of TPV systems. In particular the thesis details micro-fabrication of silicon micro-reactors, and twodimensional tungsten photonic crystals (2D W PhC) for high-temperature applications such as selective thermal emitters for TPV energy conversion. Interference lithography and reactive ion etching are used to produce large-area single-crystal tungsten 2D PhC's. The fabricated PhC consists of an array of cylindrical cavities with 800nm diameter, 1.2 pm depth, and 1.2 pm period. Extensive characterization and calibration of all micro-fabrication steps for both micro-reactors and 2D PhC's are presented. Experimentally-obtained thermal emission spectra of the 2D PhC structures match well with numerical predictions.