Integrated near-field thermo-photovoltaics for heat recycling

Abstract

Energy transferred via thermal radiation between two surfaces separated by nanometer distances can be much larger than the blackbody limit. However, realizing a scalable platform that utilizes this near-field energy exchange mechanism to generate electricity remains a challenge. Here, we present a fully integrated, reconfigurable and scalable platform operating in the near-field regime that performs controlled heat extraction and energy recycling. Our platform relies on an integrated nano-electromechanical system that enables precise positioning of a thermal emitter within nanometer distances from a room-temperature germanium photodetector to form a thermo-photovoltaic cell. We demonstrate over an order of magnitude enhancement of power generation (P_gen ~ 1.25 μWcm⁻²) in our thermo-photovoltaic cell by actively tuning the gap between a hot-emitter (T_E ~ 880 K) and the cold photodetector (T_D ~ 300 K) from ~ 500 nm down to ~ 100 nm. Our nano-electromechanical system consumes negligible tuning power (P_gen/P_NEMS ~ 10⁴) and relies on scalable silicon-based process technologies.

Designing a scalable platform to generate electricity from the energy exchange mechanism between two surfaces separated by nanometer distances remains a challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate reconfigurable, scalable and fully integrated near-field thermo-photovoltaics for on-demand heat recycling.