Enhancement and suppression of thermal emission by a three-dimensional photonic crystal

The emission and detection of electromagnetic radiation are essential optic al processes that govern performance of lasers, detectors and solar cells. Through light-photonic crystal interaction, a three-dimensional (3D) photon ic crystal offers a way to alter such optical processes. Experimental reali zation is done by building a thin slab of 3D photonic crystal onto a silico n material. The 3D crystal structure is found to be highly effective in sup pressing silicon thermal radiation in the photonic band gap spectral regime . Emission is also enhanced in the photonic passbands. At passband resonant frequencies, a thin slab of 3D photonic crystal actually acts like a plana r blackbody.