Title: Doping-tunable thermal emission from plasmon polaritons in semiconductor epsilon-near-zero thin films

Abstract

Here, we utilize the unique dispersion properties of leaky plasmon polaritons in epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) thin films to demonstrate thermal radiation control. Owing to its highly flat dispersion above the light line, a thermally excited leaky wave at the ENZ frequency out-couples into free space without any scattering structures, resulting in a narrowband, wide-angle, p-polarized thermal emission spectrum. We demonstrate this idea by measuring angle- and polarization-resolved thermal emission spectra from a single layer of unpatterned, doped semiconductors with deep-subwavelength film thickness (d/λ0 ~ 6 ×10 ^-3, where d is the film thickness and λ0 is the free space wavelength). We show that this semiconductor ENZ film effectively works as a leaky wave thermal radiation antenna, which generates far-field radiation from a thermally excited mode. The use of semiconductors makes the radiation frequency highly tunable by controlling doping densities and also facilitates device integration with other components. Therefore, this leaky plasmon polariton emission from semiconductor ENZ films provides an avenue for on-chip control of thermal radiation.

Authors:

Jun, Young Chul ^[1]; Luk, Ting S. ^[2]; Robert Ellis, A. ^[3]; Klem, John F. ^[3]; Brener, Igal ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of). Dept. of Physics
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies
3. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Publication Date:

2014-09-29

Research Org.:

Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); Inha Univ., Incheon (Korea, Republic of); National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)

OSTI Identifier:

1426896

Report Number(s):

SAND2014-17532J
Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951; 537394

DOE Contract Number:  

AC04-94AL85000; INHA-47839; 2008-0061893

Resource Type:

Journal Article

Journal Name:

Applied Physics Letters

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 105; Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 0003-6951

Publisher:

American Institute of Physics (AIP)

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY; 77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; materials; condensed matter electronic structure; condensed matter properties; doping; semiconductors; III-V semiconductors; polaritons; thermal properties; thin films; spectra