Novel nano structure for green energy harvesting at 10 μm thermal radiation

Abstract

In recent years, the potential of renewable green energy sources has been extensively studied. The proven technology which is photovoltaic solar cells strictly depends on daylight and produces low-efficiently. To overcome the restrictions, one technology studied is through harvesting the thermal radiation energy which can provide a 24-hour energy source. The continuity of energy sources promises very good energy conversion especially for military applications. This article presents a new structure that can harvest the abundant thermal radiation energy into usable energy at the wavelength of 10 µm. A rectangular structure with a perturbation slit was designed to integrate with a rectifier circuit for green energy conversion. The slit tunnel junction guided the electromagnetic field into a junction where the energy could be collected and converted. An enhancement factor of approximately 110.6 can be achieved by a perturbation slit length of 1.0 µm. The results extracted from the proposed design promise a better candidate to overcome the disadvantages of photovoltaic solar cells for energy harvesting devices.