True thermal antenna with hyperbolic metamaterials

A thermal antenna is an electromagnetic source that emits in its surrounding a spatially coherent field in the infrared frequency range. Usually, its emission pattern changes with the wavelength so that the heat flux it radiates is weakly directive. Here, we show that a class of hyperbolic materials of type II possess a Brewster angle, which is weakly dependent on the wavelength, so that they can radiate like a true thermal antenna with a highly directional and p-polarized heat flux. The realization of these sources could open a new avenue in the field of thermal management in far-field regime. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America