Thermal radiation from two-dimensionally confined modes in microcavities

A two-dimensional array of a microcavity with a high aspect ratio is made on a Cr-coated Si surface using the micromachining technology. The thermal emission spectra whose wavelength is close to the dimension of cavity aperture (5 mum) are measured on samples with a different aspect ratio. The clear selective emission bands corresponding to the two-dimensionally confined electromagnetic modes are demonstrated experimentally. It is found that the low emissivity of the base material is essential to obtain the high spectral selectivity of thermal radiation. The direction and polarization properties are also examined. The dominant peaks of the emission spectra can be explained by a simple cavity resonator model. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.