Design of Thermal Metamaterials Beyond the Effective Medium Theory: Direct Numerical Simulation via the Thermal Discrete Dipole Approximation (T- DDA)
Abstract
The objective of this project was to establish a computational framework for solving near-field thermal radiation problems in three-dimensional (3D) complex geometries. The computational framework developed, implemented, and tested in this project is called the thermal discrete dipole approximation (T-DDA). The T-DDA is based on fluctuational electrodynamics, where a fluctuating current representing thermal emission is added to Maxwells equations. The research activities were divided into three main tasks: (1) Implementation of the T-DDA for modeling near-field radiative heat transfer in 3D complex geometries; (2) Application of the T-DDA for predicting near-field heat radiative transfer between arbitrarily-shaped objects and near-field thermal emission by metamaterials; (3) Design of metamaterial thermal spectra maximizing thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion. This research provided for the first time a computational framework for calculating near-field radiative heat transfer and near-field thermal emission with complex materials beyond the effective medium theory. The outcome of this project will accelerate the implementation of TPV energy converters via the design, fabrication and testing of metamaterials selectively emitting thermal radiation. In addition, this research will impact other technologies capitalizing on near-field thermal radiation such as infrared cloaking and heat flow regulation via photonic thermal diodes through metamaterial design.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 31, 2018
- Accession Number
- AD1080637
Entities
People
- Mathieu Francoeur
Organizations
- University of Utah