Metamaterials with angle selective emissivity in the near-infrared

Metamaterials have been previously studied for their ability to tailor the dispersive IR emissivity of a surface. Here, we investigate two metamaterial structures based on an electromagnetic band-gap surface and a dielectric resonator array for use as near-IR emitters with custom angle selectivity. A genetic algorithm is successfully employed to optimize the metamaterial structures to have minimum emissivity in the normal direction and high emissivity at custom off-normal angles specified by the designer. Two symmetry conditions are utilized to achieve emissivity patterns that are azimuthally stable or distinct in the two orthogonal plane cuts. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America