Fig. 1: The challenge of thermal wavefront modulation and schematic of meta-emitter.
From: Ultra-coherent meta-emitter tailors arbitrary thermal wavefront
a Challenges in thermal wavefront shaping. In the resonant lossy surface framework, an inherent trade-off exists between the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the complexity of the thermal wavefront, rendering the emission of intricate thermal wavefronts elusive. In contrast, the lossy and lossless resonant coupling framework suppress the mutual perturbation between resonance and local scatterers, enabling complex thermal wavefront emission with high SNR. b Concept of DF model. Thermal photons generated within the “lossy funnel” are transported to the “lossless funnel” through a bridging resonant “tunnel” while extending their lifetime. c Cross-section of the schematic architecture of DF meta-emitter. The inset enlarges the view of the DF meta-emitter around the central WG. Dispersion relationships \(\omega (k)\) on both sides can be designed by various structures for specific wavefront control requirement. Temporal coherence: cτ; local scatterer: S; WG: waveguide.
