Power generation from direct conversion of infrared radiation from a thermal source.

In this talk, we will describe a new photo-thermoelectric conversion device that consists of a large-area nanoantenna-coupled metal-oxide-silicon (MOS) tunnel diode that directly converts infrared radiation into electrical power. This infrared photonic device needs only view a moderate temperature thermal source to generate a direct photocurrent. A resonant photonic frequency selective surface and a polar oxide material with longitudinal optical phonon resonance are arranged to spectrally overlap and enhance transverse field confinement in an extreme sub-wavelength MOS tunnel barrier. The enhanced field confinement is shown to drive photon-assisted tunneling resulting in large infrared photocurrent in the room temperature device. The measurement of photon-assisted tunneling photocurrent across a matched load impedance is shown to arise due to direct rectification of infrared radiation and a new radiative micropower supply will be described.