Wavelength-selective and diffuse infrared thermal emission mediated by magnetic polaritons from silicon carbide metasurfaces

In the present study, we experimentally demonstrate the spectrally coherent and diffuse thermal emission by exciting magnetic polaritons in SiC metasurfaces fabricated by the focused ion beam technique. Spectral emittance characterized by using an infrared microscope coupled to a Fourier transform spectrometer clearly shows a wavelength-selective emission peak as high as 0.8. Numerical simulations including emittance spectra and contour plot of electromagnetic field distribution were carried out to verify and understand the underlying mechanism of magnetic polaritons. The metasurfaces were further shown to be direction and polarization independent. The results would facilitate metasurfaces for applications like radiative thermal management and infrared sensing.