University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Electrically Induced Selective Thermal Emission from Engineered Metals with Dielectric Coatings

Rooney, Gino

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Description

Title
Electrically Induced Selective Thermal Emission from Engineered Metals with Dielectric Coatings
Author(s)
Rooney, Gino
Contributor(s)
Wasserman, Dan
Issue Date
2013-05
Keyword(s)
  • thermal emitter
  • thin film
  • engineered metals
  • ThermoPhotoVoltaics
  • selective emission
Abstract
The use of selective thermal emitters in the mid-infrared spectral range can significantly improve current energy conversion, emission and detection solutions found in ThermoPhotoVoltaics, thermal decoy technologies, and heat detection or supply systems. Current selective thermal emitters can require multiple, high resolution fabrication steps, have optical properties dependent on temperature, and be largely angle or polarization dependent. This thesis presents a novel, ultra-thin, two-film system, consisting of an engineered metal and a lossless dielectric, that demonstrates angle and polarization independent, wavelength flexible selective thermal emission. In addition, the process for fabricating this device requires only two steps: the doping of a semiconductor and the deposition of a dielectric on top of the highly doped semiconductor. By running a current through the highly doped semiconductor, selective thermal emission from Ohmic heating is seen at 11.8 μm, which can be controlled by varying the thickness of the dielectric layer. Also, these devices do not have optical properties or insulator-to-metal phase transitions (IMT) that depend on temperature, so heating the system up to different temperatures will not significantly affect the thermal signature of the device. This is demonstrated by pulsing different current frequencies, amplitudes, and pulse widths through the device to change the temperature of the sample.
Type of Resource
text
Language
en
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/47615

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