Title: Tailoring high-temperature radiation and the resurrection of the incandescent source

Abstract

In solar cells, the mismatch between the Sun's emission spectrum and the cells’ absorption profile limits the efficiency of such devices, while in incandescent light bulbs, most of the energy is lost as heat. One way to avoid the waste of a large fraction of the radiation emitted from hot objects is to tailor the thermal emission spectrum according to the desired application. This strategy has been successfully applied to photonic-crystal emitters at moderate temperatures, but is exceedingly difficult for hot emitters (>1,000 K). Here, we show that a plain incandescent tungsten filament (3,000 K) surrounded by a cold-side nanophotonic interference system optimized to reflect infrared light and transmit visible light for a wide range of angles could become a light source that reaches luminous efficiencies (~40%) surpassing existing lighting technologies, and nearing a limit for lighting applications. We experimentally demonstrate a proof-of-principle incandescent emitter with efficiency approaching that of commercial fluorescent or light-emitting diode bulbs, but with exceptional reproduction of colours and scalable power. The ability to tailor the emission spectrum of high-temperature sources may find applications in thermophotovoltaic energy conversion and lighting.

Authors:

Ilic, Ognjen ^[1]; Bermel, Peter  ^[2];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-7140-0667"
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Chen, Gang  ^[3];

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• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3968-8530"
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Joannopoulos, John D. ^[1]; Celanovic, Ivan ^[1]; Soljačić, Marin ^[1]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Research Lab. of Electronics
2. Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States). School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Birck Nanotechnology Center
3. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

Publication Date:

2016-01-11

Research Org.:

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

OSTI Identifier:

1371442

Grant/Contract Number:  

SC0001299; FG02-09ER46577

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

Nature Nanotechnology

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 11; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 1748-3387

Publisher:

Nature Publishing Group

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY; optical materials and structures; photonic devices; technology