Tailoring Thermal Emission for Power Generation and Cooling

The thermal spectra of hot, warm, and cool bodies are all well-known and described by Planck’s law for blackbody emission. However, for many modern technologies and applications, it is desirably to have significant deviations from this law to achieve directional or wavelength-controlled emission. In this talk, we will discuss the control of thermal emission for various applications. We introduce a novel approach that enables the creation of thermally stable structures at ultra-high temperatures (up to 2000 °C), allowing for tailored emission spectra. The specific application of thermophotovoltaics will be discussed. Additionally, we will describe an alternative geoengineering strategy to increase the Earth's radiative heat emission, potentially stabilizing or cooling the planet to help mitigate climate change by increasing the earth’s thermal emission by 1 W/m². Finally, we will discuss our work on alternative power generation concepts to produce power after sunset by optically coupling to deep space and discuss the potential impact and limitations of such devices.