Polaritonic Waveguide Emits Super-Planckian Thermal Radiation

Abstract: Classical Planck's theory of thermal radiation predicts an upper limit of the heat transfer between two bodies separated by a distance longer than the dominant radiation wavelength (far-field regime). This limit can be overcome when the dimensions of the absorbent bodies are smaller than the dominant wavelength due to hybrid electromagnetic waves, known as surface phonon-polaritons (SPhPs). Here, we experimentally demonstrate that the far-field radiative heat transfer between two non-absorbent bodies can also overcome Planck's limit, by coating them with an absorbent material to form a polaritonic waveguide. This super-Planckian far-field thermal radiation is confirmed by measuring the radiative thermal conductance between two silicon plates coated with silicon dioxide nanolayers. The observed conductance is twice higher than Planck's limit and agrees with the predictions of our model for the SPhP waveguide modes. Our findings could be applied to thermal management in microelectronics and silicon photonics.