Broadband directional thermal emission with anisothermal microsources

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that by controlling the spatial temperature distribution within a solid, one can achieve broadband directional thermal emission, opening new possibilities for thermal management and energy applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method to generate directional thermal emission through precise control of spatial temperature distribution in microscale sources.

Findings

Achieved broadband directional thermal emission.

Enabled new control over radiative heat flux.

Potential applications in thermal management and energy conversion.

Abstract

Thermal emission is naturally spatially incoherent and lacks directionality. Here, we demonstrate that by precisely controlling the spatial temperature distribution within a solid, directional thermal emission can be achieved across a broad spectral range. These anisothermal sources open new avenues for manipulating radiative heat flux at the microscale and hold promise for applications in thermal management and energy conversion, enabling more efficient and targeted thermal control.