Spectrally Enhancing Near-Field Radiative Transfer between Metallic Gratings by Exciting Magnetic Polaritons in Nanometric Vacuum Gaps

In the present Letter, we theoretically demonstrate that near-field radiative transport between one-dimensional periodic grating microstructures separated by nanometer vacuum gaps can be spectrally enhanced by exciting magnetic polaritons. Fluctuational electrodynamics that incorporates scattering matrix theory with rigorous coupled-wave analysis is employed to exactly calculate the near-field radiative flux between two metallic gratings. In addition to the well-known coupled surface plasmon polaritons, the radiative flux can be also spectrally enhanced due to the magnetic polariton, which is excited in the gap between the grating ridges. The mechanism of magnetic polaritons in the near-field radiative transport are elucidated in detail, while the unusual enhancement cannot be predicted by either Derjaguin's or the effective medium approximations. The effects of the vacuum gap distance and grating geometry parameters between the two gratings are investigated. The findings will open a new way to spectrally control near-field radiative transfer by magnetic polaritons with micro- or nanostructured metamaterials, which holds great potential for improving the performance of energy systems like near-field thermophotovoltaics.