Optimized aperiodic broadband thermal emitters for use as light bulb filaments

TL;DR

This paper designs optimized aperiodic multilayer structures to significantly enhance broadband thermal emission in visible wavelengths, potentially doubling emittance and reducing incandescent bulb power consumption.

Contribution

It introduces novel aperiodic multilayer structures with tungsten and other materials that improve emittance and efficiency of lightbulb filaments.

Findings

Emittance increased by nearly a factor of two over visible wavelengths.

Potential to reduce incandescent bulb power consumption by nearly 50%.

Structures significantly enhance broadband thermal emission.

Abstract

We present optimized aperiodic structures for use as broadband thermal incandescent emitters which are capable of increasing the emittance by nearly a factor of two over the visible wavelength range when compared to bulk tungsten. These aperiodic multilayer structures are designed with alternating layers of tungsten and air or tungsten and silicon carbide on top of a tungsten substrate. We investigate the properties of these structures for use as lightbulb filaments. We find that these structures greatly enhance the emittance over the visible wavelength range, while also increasing the overall efficiency of the bulb and could lead to a decrease in incandescent lightbulb power consumption by nearly 50%.