Rayleigh and mie enhancement of blackbody radiation in nanoscale devices

A method for suppressing long wavelength radiation in blackbody emission is presented. In particular, Rayleigh and Mie theory are considered for the design nanoscale devices to shape the spectrum of blackbody radiation. The method combines the Planck blackbody emission spectrum with the Maxwell equation based suppression of long wavelength radiation from sub-wavelength apertures. In this, constituent nanoscale devices are used as blackbody radiators rather than scatterers of an incident field, a fundamentally different notion than classical scattering of an incident electromagnetic field. In essence, the nanoscale devices serve as an intermediary for converting energy into short-wavelength photons. Although the development focuses on using nanoscale devices to enhance visible wavelength while suppressing infrared, the approach is not limited to optical wavelengths. Results are presented showing potential for reducing the emitted wavelength by 25% to 50%. Finally, the method may prove useful in applications such as energy conversion systems, solar cells, and lighting.