Taming the Blackbody with Metamaterials

In this paper we demonstrate, for the first time, selective thermal emitters based on metamaterials perfect absorbers. We experimentally realize a narrow band mid-infrared (MIR) thermal emitter. Multiple metamaterial sublattices further permit construction of a dual-band MIR emitter. By performing both emissivity and absorptivity measurements, we find that emissivity and absorptivity agree very well as predicted by Kirchhoff’s law of thermal radiation. Our results directly demonstrate the great flexibility of metamaterials for tailoring blackbody emission.