Super-Planckian radiative heat transfer between macroscale metallic surfaces due to near-field and thin-film effects

Payam Sabbaghi, Linshuang Long, Xiaoyan Ying, Lee Lambert, Sydney Taylor, Christian Messner, Liping Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate that the radiative heat transfer between metallic planar surfaces exceeds the blackbody limit by employing the near-field and thin-film effects over macroscale surfaces. Nanosized polystyrene particles were used to create a nanometer gap between aluminum thin films of different thicknesses from 80 nm to 13 nm coated on 5 × 5 mm2 silicon chips, while the vacuum gap spacing is fitted from the near-field measurement with bare silicon samples. The near-field radiative heat flux between 13-nm-thick Al thin films at 215 nm gap distance is measured to be 6.4 times over the blackbody limit and 420 times to the far-field radiative heat transfer between metallic surfaces under a temperature difference of 65 K with the receiver at room temperature. The experimental results are validated by theoretical calculation based on fluctuational electrodynamics, and the heat enhancement is explained by non-resonant electromagnetic coupling within the subwavelength vacuum gap and resonant coupling inside the nanometric Al thin film with s polarized waves. This work will facilitate the applications of near-field radiation in thermal power conversion, radiative refrigeration, and noncontact heat control where metallic materials are involved.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number025305
JournalJournal of Applied Physics
Volume128
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 14 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Physics and Astronomy

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