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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:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [1];  [1];  [1]
+ 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:
Research Org.:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
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

Citation Formats

Ilic, Ognjen, Bermel, Peter, Chen, Gang, Joannopoulos, John D., Celanovic, Ivan, and Soljačić, Marin. Tailoring high-temperature radiation and the resurrection of the incandescent source. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.309.
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Ilic, Ognjen, Bermel, Peter, Chen, Gang, Joannopoulos, John D., Celanovic, Ivan, & Soljačić, Marin. Tailoring high-temperature radiation and the resurrection of the incandescent source. United States. doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.309.
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Ilic, Ognjen, Bermel, Peter, Chen, Gang, Joannopoulos, John D., Celanovic, Ivan, and Soljačić, Marin. Mon . "Tailoring high-temperature radiation and the resurrection of the incandescent source". United States. doi:10.1038/nnano.2015.309. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1371442.
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@article{osti_1371442,
title = {Tailoring high-temperature radiation and the resurrection of the incandescent source},
author = {Ilic, Ognjen and Bermel, Peter and Chen, Gang and Joannopoulos, John D. and Celanovic, Ivan and Soljačić, Marin},
abstractNote = {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.},
doi = {10.1038/nnano.2015.309},
journal = {Nature Nanotechnology},
number = 4,
volume = 11,
place = {United States},
year = {2016},
month = {1}
}
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DOI:  10.1038/nnano.2015.309
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