Thermal radiation characteristics of SiC nanostructures

As new artificial electromagnetic materials, metamaterials have unique properties compared to natural materials, such as negative refraction, invisibility, and perfect imaging. Surface plasmon-polaritons (SPPs) are electromagnetic waves travelling along the surface of the polar material SiC. Spectral selectivity, high intensity, and unidirectional emission of thermal radiation into a single desired angle have been investigated, which promises important applications such as thermophotovoltaic devices, mid-infrared light sources and thermal spectroscopy. In this work, a kind of silicon carbide (SiC) structure is designed and the corresponding thermal radiation is simulated. SiC, as a polar material, exhibits a metal-like characteristic at about 10.6 to 12.6 μm, supporting a surface phonon polariton wave in this band. Due to high melting point of silicon carbide, it can be used for thermal source design to control direction and efficiency of thermal radiation.