Selective thermal emission from patterned steel

Patterned metal films have been shown to possess unique optical properties resulting from the excitation of surface plasmon polaritons at the patterned metal surface. Here we demonstrate spectrally selective thermal emission from patterned steel substrates. The materials and processes used in this work were chosen for their potential scalability to large-area and low cost production of metal films with distinct and designable thermal signatures. The samples studied were characterized by reflection and emission spectroscopy, and a factor of 2.6 emission enhancement is demonstrated for the design wavelength. These results are compared to numerical simulations. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America