Spectral characterization of selective emission by an aperiodic cavity-enhanced Tamm plasmon-polariton emitter

We report highly selective resonant emission from an aperiodic Tamm plasmon-polariton (TP) emitter featuring a targeted mid infrared emission wavelength in the region of 4.26 μm. This spectral region is of high interest in context with integrated CO2 absorption sensing. To the best of our knowledge, the measured thermal emission at peak temperatures up to 500 °C of TP emitters featuring a half-wavelength cavity have never been related to simulations in a satisfactory manner in terms of peak position, emission intensity and temperature behavior. The layer thicknesses quantified via scanning electron microscope (SEM) featured deviations from the targeted periodic configuration due to statistical variation of deposition and etching process. Simulations using the Transfer-Matrix Method suggested a higher Q-factor and higher peak emission associated with the obtained aperiodic configurations compared to the target periodic configuration featuring a quarter-wave stack (QWS). Although the improved spectral features of the aperiodic stack could not quite be resolved, the spectral position, the qualitative temperature behavior and the angular emission pattern in the range of 0° to 10° could be confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy.