Enhancement and Tunability of Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer Mediated by Surface Plasmon Polaritons in Thin Plasmonic Films

Abstract

The properties of thermal radiation exchange between hot and cold objects can be strongly modified if they interact in the near field where electromagnetic coupling occurs across gaps narrower than the dominant wavelength of thermal radiation. Using a rigorous fluctuational electrodynamics approach, we predict that ultra-thin films of plasmonic materials can be used to dramatically enhance near-field heat transfer. The total spectrally integrated film-to-film heat transfer is over an order of magnitude larger than between the same materials in bulk form and also exceeds the levels achievable with polar dielectrics such as SiC. We attribute this enhancement to the significant spectral broadening of radiative heat transfer due to coupling between surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) on both sides of each thin film. We show that the radiative heat flux spectrum can be further shaped by the choice of the substrate onto which the thin film is deposited. In particular, substrates supporting surface phonon polaritons (SPhP) strongly modify the heat flux spectrum owing to the interactions between SPPs on thin films and SPhPs of the substrate. The use of thin film phase change materials on polar dielectric substrates allows for dynamic switching of the heat flux spectrum between SPP-mediated and SPhP-mediated peaks.

Interconnections between Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of Multilayer Nanolaminate TiAlN/Ag and Al2O3/Ag Coatings

“…External electromagnetic radiation in these artificial materials excites plasmon and phonon waves that are transforming the initial radiation. Surface plasmon-polariton (SPP) interactions result from the coupling between collective oscillations of conducting electrons (plasmons) in metal and lattice waves (phonons) in dielectrics [1,2]. SPP modes with a high local density of optical states (DOS) could actively transform the intensity and spectral shape of the light reflecting from or transmitting through the nanolayer MIM coating.…”

Radiative heat transfer between nanoparticles: Shape dependence and three-body effect

“…Apart from separation distances, the dominant frequencies in the radiative heat transfer depend strongly on the optical response of nanoparticles. It is shown by several authors that the heat flux can drastically be influenced in cases when a mismatch exists between the dielectric function of objects 30,31 . This effect, beside the temperature dependence of objects properties, is widely used in designing thermal memories 32,33 and thermal diodes [34][35][36][37][38][39][40] .…”

Hybrid optical-thermal devices and materials for light manipulation and radiative cooling

“…2a). Light absorption and emission can also be modified by surface phonon- 9 or plasmon-polariton modes 10,11 , especially in combination with strong spatial confinement effects (Fig. 2b).…”