Optimization of radiative heat transfer in hyperbolic metamaterials for thermophotovoltaic applications

Using our recently developed method we analyze the radiative heat transfer in micron-thick multilayer stacks of metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion. The metamaterials are especially designed for prospective thermophotovoltaic systems. We show that the huge transfer of near-infrared thermal radiation across micron layers of metamaterials is achievable and can be optimized. We suggest an approach to the optimal design of such metamaterials taking into account high temperatures of the emitting medium and the heating of the photovoltaic medium by the low-frequency part of the radiation spectrum. We show that both huge values and frequency selectivity are achievable for the radiative heat transfer in hyperbolic multilayer stacks. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America