Narrowband Wavelength Selective Thermal Emitters by Confined Tamm Plasmon Polaritons

This study experimentally demonstrates infrared wavelength selective thermal emission based on Tamm plasmon polaritons (TPPs). Unlike conventional TPP structures, which have a thin metal layer on a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), the proposed structure has a thick metal under a DBR that is more robust for thermal radiation. The number of DBR pairs is a critical factor in maximizing the narrowband emission needed to satisfy the impedance matching condition, which varies with the choice of metal film. Optimum designs for four different metals, aluminum, gold, molybdenum, and tungsten, are presented. The temporal coupled-mode theory was introduced to explain the origin of the high Q-factor of the proposed structure, which can achieve a twice higher Q-factor for the measured emissivity compared to typical plasmonic thermal emitters. The structure is one-dimensional, consisting of only multilayers and free from nanopatterning, offering a practical design in applications such as gas sensing, narrowband IR sources, and thermophotovoltaics.