Pareto Optimal Spectrally Selective Emitters for Thermophotovoltaics via Weak Absorber Critical Coupling

Jeon, Nari; Hernandez, Jonathan J.; Rosenmann, Daniel; Gray, Stephen K.; Martinson, Alex B.  F.; Foley IV, Jonathan J.

doi:10.1002/aenm.201801035

Pareto Optimal Spectrally Selective Emitters for Thermophotovoltaics via Weak Absorber Critical Coupling

Journal Article · 15 July 2018 · Advanced Energy Materials

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.201801035· OSTI ID:1473691

Jeon, Nari ^[1]; Hernandez, Jonathan J. ^[2]; Rosenmann, Daniel ^[3]; Gray, Stephen K. ^[3]; Martinson, Alex B. F. ^[1]; ^[4]

Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA
Union County College, 1033 Springfield Avenue Cranford NJ 07016 USA
Nanoscience and Technology Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne IL 60439 USA
Department of Chemistry, William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Road Wayne NJ 07470 USA

Tailoring the emission spectra of a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) emitter away from that of a blackbody has the potential to minimize transmission and thermalization loss in a photovoltaic receiver. Selective TPV emitters can lead to solar energy conversion with efficiency greater than the Shockley-Queisser limit and can facilitate the generation of useful energy from waste heat. A new design is introduced to radically tune thermal emission that leverages the interplay between two resonant phenomena in simple planar nanostructures-absorption in weakly absorbing nanofilms and reflection in multilayer dielectric stacks. A virtual screening approach is employed to identify promising structures for a selective thermal emitter from a search space of millions, several of which approach the ideal values of a step-function selective thermal emitter. One of these structures is experimentally fabricated and evaluated, which includes a weakly absorbing alloy with tailored optical properties fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The versatility of the design and fabrication approach result in an emitter with excellent spectral density (0.8 W cm(-2) sr(-1)) and spectral efficiency (46.8%) at 1373 K. Future experimental challenges to a more accurate realization of the optimal structures calculated are also considered.

Research Organization:: Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

DOE Contract Number:: AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1473691

Journal Information:: Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 8, Issue 25; ISSN 1614-6832

Publisher:: Wiley

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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