High temperature selective emitters via critical coupling of weak absorbers
US10819270B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignees
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 16, 2018 |
| Grant date | Oct 27, 2020 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 18, 2038 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY04S40/20
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Tailoring the emission spectra of a solar thermophotovoltaic emitter away from that of a blackbody, thereby minimizing transmission and thermalization loss in the energy receiver, is a viable approach to circumventing the Shockley-Queisser limit to single junction solar energy conversion. Embodiments allow for radically tuned selective thermal emission that leverages the interplay between two resonant phenomena in a simple planar structure—absorption in weakly-absorbing thin films and reflection in multi-layer dielectric stacks. A virtual screening approach is employed based on Pareto optimality to identify a small number of promising structures for a selective thermal emitter from a search space of millions, several of which approach the ideal values of a step-function selective thermal emitter.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.