Achieving high-performance polarization-independent nonreciprocal thermal radiation with pattern-free heterostructures

TL;DR

This paper introduces pattern-free multilayer heterostructures combining magneto-optical and Weyl semimetal materials to achieve high-performance, polarization-independent nonreciprocal thermal radiation, advancing energy harvesting technologies.

Contribution

It presents a novel multilayer heterostructure design that enables polarization-independent nonreciprocal thermal emission without patterning, using magneto-optical and Weyl semimetal materials.

Findings

Achieves omnidirectional polarization-independent nonreciprocity.

Employs Pareto optimization to maximize nonreciprocal emission.

Demonstrates versatile design strategy for high-performance thermal emitters.

Abstract

Many advanced energy harvesting technologies rely on advanced control of thermal emission. Recently, it has been shown that the emissivity and absorptivity of thermal emitters can be controlled independently in nonreciprocal emitters. While significant progress has been made in engineering these nonreciprocal thermal emitters, realizing a highly efficient, pattern-free emitter capable of supporting dual-polarization nonreciprocal emission remains a challenging task. Existing solutions are largely based on metamaterials and exhibit polarization-dependent behavior. This work proposes pattern-free multilayer heterostructures combining magneto-optical and magnetic Weyl semimetal materials and systematically evaluates their nonreciprocal emission performance for p- and s-polarized waves. The findings show that omnidirectional polarization-independent nonreciprocity can be achieved utilizing multilayer structures with different magnetization directions that do not follow simple vector summation. To further enhance the performance, Pareto optimization is employed to tune the key design parameters, enabling the maximization of nonreciprocal thermal emission in a given wavelength range. This approach offers a versatile strategy for designing high-performance thermal emitters tailored for multi-objective optical functionalities.