Controlling Thermal Radiation Signatures using Materials Designed by Transformation Optics Theory

Above 0K all objects thermally radiate and each object has its own thermally radiated signature, depending on its geometric shape and its constitutive parameters. In our theoretical work, we investigate design methodologies... [ view full abstract ]

Above 0K all objects thermally radiate and each object has its own thermally radiated signature, depending on its geometric shape and its constitutive parameters. In our theoretical work, we investigate design methodologies based on transformation optics theory [1] to control the emitted thermal radiation signature. In this talk, we extend transformation optics theory to the field of near field thermal radiation [2]. We first summarize fluctuational electrodynamics theory [3] which is a mathematical framework to describe the electromagnetic thermal radiation as a linear response of Maxwell’s equations due to thermal electric and magnetic currents. These sources are governed by stochastic processes and their statistical properties are determined by the fluctuation dissipation theorem which relates the losses of a linear system to the fluctuations of its internal thermal energy. These losses are related to the constitutive parameters of the thermal emitter. Then, we show that it is possible for objects residing in virtual and physical space to have the same thermal radiation pattern if their complex permittivities and permeabilities are related by the standard transformation optics such that the fluctuation electrodynamics problem is invariant under transformation, such invariance allows the illusion procedure in thermal radiation. 2D thermal camouflage [4] scheme is illustrated and numerical computations confirm the developed theory within our hypothesis framework. Finally, we extend the theoretical scheme for thermal radiation from reciprocal and non-reciprocal bi-anisotropic media [5].

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the French National Research Agency (ANR- INPACT project).

References:

1. Pendry, J. B., Schurig, D. and D. R. Smith, “ Controlling electromagnetic fields,” science, Vol. 312, No. 5781, 1780-1782, 2006.
2. Howell, J. R., Menguc, M. P. and R. Siegel, Thermal radiation heat transfer, CRC press, 2010.
3. Rytov, S.M. “Theory of electric fluctuations and thermal radiation,” Air Force Cambridge Research Center, Bedford MA, 1959.
4. A. Alwakil, M. Zerrad, M. Bellieud, and C. Amra, "Inverse heat mimicking of given objects," Sci. Rep. 7, (2017).
5. I. V. Lindell, A. H. Sihvola, S. A. Tretykov, and A. J. Viitanen, Electromagnetic waves in Chiral and Bi-Isotropic Media, Artech House, 1994.