A silicon-based device for dynamic control of thermal emission

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel all-silicon device that enables electrical modulation of narrowband thermal emission in the mid-infrared, leveraging silicon's advantages for scalable and low-cost applications.

Contribution

The work presents the first silicon-based design for electrically controlling thermal emission, expanding the material options for thermal photonics devices.

Findings

Voltage-controlled narrowband thermal emission at 10 μm achieved

Electromagnetic calculations confirm device performance

Silicon platform enables scalable, low-cost thermal emission devices

Abstract

Control of thermal emission is important in a number of applications from thermal energy harvesting and management and sensing of gas and chemical to thermal camouflage. Semiconductor-based devices can be engineered to enable electrical control of thermal emission, offering high modulation speed and ease of voltage control. Existing device designs for modulating thermal emission rely on semiconductors other than silicon, such as III-V and II-VI compounds, which are expensive. The silicon platform offers several advantages, including significantly lower cost, CMOS compatibility, and mature fabrication processes. However, a silicon-based design for modulating thermal emission remains absent. Here, we present an all-silicon device utilising electrical control over carrier dynamics to modulate a narrowband thermal emission in the mid-infrared region. We design a silicon device exhibiting voltage-controlled narrowband thermal emission at 10 {\mu}m and confirm its performance using electromagnetic calculations. This work paves the way for scalable, low-cost, and integrated thermal emission devices made possible by the silicon platform.