Thermal radiation is generally assumed to be both spatially and temporally incoherent. In this talk, we review advances in the last 30 years that challenge this idea when moving to the near field. It becomes possible to design incandescent sources which are directional and spectrally selective by taking advantage of surface waves. We also report the discovery of the enhancement by several orders of magnitude of the energy density close to an interface when surface phonon polaritons are excited. It follows that the radiative flux between two interfaces can be enhanced beyond sT4.
This new insight into the science of thermal radiation enables new technologies for energy management. We will discuss applications to radiative cooling, thermophotovoltaic energy conversion, efficient IR sources and efficient light emitting metasurfaces. —fused magnesium furnace and achieved remarkable results in the reduction of carbon emission.
