Three-dimensional photonic-crystal emitter for thermal photovoltaic power generation

A three-dimensional tungsten photonic crystal is experimentally realized with a complete photonic band gap at wavelengths lambdagreater than or equal to3 mum. At an effective temperature of similar to1535 K, the photonic crystal exhibits a sharp emission at lambdasimilar to1.5 mum and is promising for thermal photovoltaic (TPV) power generation. Based on the spectral radiance, a proper length scaling and a planar TPV model calculation, an optical-to-electric conversion efficiency of similar to34% and electrical power of similar to14 W/cm(2) is theoretically possible. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.