Design and Fabrication of a Wavelength-Selective Near-Infrared Metasurface Emitter for a Thermophotovoltaic System

In this study, a tungsten-SiO₂-based metal⁻insulator⁻metal-structured metasurface for the thermal emitter of the thermophotovoltaic system was designed and fabricated. The proposed emitter was fabricated by applying the photolithography method. The fabricated emitter has high emissivity in the visible to near-infrared region and shows excellent wavelength selectivity. This spectral emissivity tendency agreed well with the result calculated by the finite-difference time-domain method. Additionally, the underlying mechanism of its emission was scrutinized. Study of the fabrication process and theoretical mechanisms of the emission, clarified in this research, will be fundamental to design the wavelength-selective thermal emitter.