A thermal emitter with selective wavelength: Based on the coupling between photonic crystals and surface plasmon polaritons.

A thermal emitter with selective wavelength has been demonstrated in which the dielectric layers formed one-dimensional photonic crystals are sandwiched between two Ag films. The top Ag film is perforated periodically with hexagonal hole array. The selected thermal radiation of the photonic crystals resonates between two metal films and surface plasmon polaritons are generated on the top Ag and converted to light radiation. It is found that when leakage modes adjacent to the optic band gap of photonic crystals meet the resonant modes of surface plasmom polaritons, an enhanced thermal emission with maximum intensity can be obtained. The hybrid photonic and plasmonic thermal emitters are selective, which should be very useful for the creation of high power infrared light sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]