Omnidirectional wavelength selective emitters/absorbers based on dielectric-filled anti-reflection coated two-dimensional metallic photonic crystals

Abstract

We demonstrate designs of dielectric-filled anti-reflection coated (ARC) two-dimensional (2D) metallic photonic crystals (MPhCs) capable of omnidirectional, polarization insensitive, wavelength selective emission/absorption. Up to 26% improvement in hemispherically averaged emittance/absorptance below the cutoff wavelength is observed for optimized hafnium oxide filled 2D tantalum (Ta) PhCs over the unfilled 2D Ta PhCs. The optimized designs possess high hemispherically averaged emittance/absorptance of 0.86 at wavelengths below the cutoff wavelength and low hemispherically averaged emittance/absorptance of 0.12 at wavelengths above the cutoff wavelength, which is extremely promising for applications such as thermophotovoltaic energy conversion, solar absorption, and infrared spectroscopy.