
5
the black-body spectrum, Θ(ω, T ), appears inside
a frequency integral. For conventional thermal
emitters, the spectrum of thermal radiation is given by
Ireal(ω, T ) = α(ω)IBB(ω, T ), where α(ω) = (ω)≤1
is the spectral absorptivity (related to the emissivity
by the Kirchhoff’s radiation law), and IBB ∝Θ(ω, T ),
refers to the black-body emission spectrum. Herein,
Θ(ω, T ) acts as a fixed frequency window that
ultimately sets an upper limit for the radiative heat
transfer. Thus, customary spatial-like nanophotonic
engineering of emission spectra have so far been limited
to the control of the optical absorptivity (or the
emissivity) of materials [61,62], within the limits
imposed by the black-body spectrum [see Fig. 1(b)].
By contrast, our analysis reveals that time-modulated
thermal emitters can affect to the black-body’s photon
distribution, thus making tunable the accessible window
of frequencies [see Fig. 1(c)]. This suggests an additional
and unprecedented way to engineer the density of states.
Another crucial aspect of the hˆ
j†
1·ˆ
j1ith term, is
that it contains anti-normally ordered correlations
hˆ
j0·ˆ
j†
0ith [63,64], indicating so the eventual occurrence
of vacuum amplifications effects [42]. In fact, this term
is the dominant contribution in the zero-temperature
limit (T→0). In this sense, going beyond
a semiclassical approach, our quantum formalism
would allow for unifying quantum photon production
effects (such as the dynamical Casimir effect [40,41],
parametric amplification, ...) and thermal emission
processes. In turn, it paves the way to study vacuum
amplification effects at a finite temperature, which might
be required for the analysis of realistic experimental
configurations. Finally, our quantum formalism for
fluctuating currents sets the basis for calculating
quantum vacuum forces in time-varying media, such as
Casimir forces [39] and quantum friction [65–70].
NEW THERMAL EMISSION EFFECTS IN
TIME-VARYING MEDIA
Thus far we have sketched out the theoretical model
of thermally fluctuating currents and their correlations
in time-varying media. Next, we illustrate some of
the main consequences of such a time-modulation in
connection with the emergence of new thermal emission
effects. To this end, we revisit a historical example that
helped initiating the field of nanophotonic engineering
of thermal emission [30–32]. It consists of a silicon
carbide (SiC) substrate (z < 0), in contact with
vacuum (z > 0) [see Fig. 3]. The frequency-dependent
permittivity of SiC is described by a Drude-Lorentz
model, so that ε(ω) = ε∞(ω2
L−ω2−iγω)/(ω2
T−ω2−iγω),
where ε∞= 6.7, ωL= 29.1 THz, ωT= 23.8 THz,
and γ= 0.14 THz [31], stand, respectively, for the
high-frequency-limit permittivity, the longitudinal and
t
SiC
SPhPs
Fluctuating
currents
x
z
y
Vacuum
FIG. 3. Thermal emission from a semi-infinite planar
slab of SiC subjected to a harmonic time-modulation.
Schematic depiction of a semi-infinite slab of SiC at
temperature Twith a random distribution of fluctuating
currents moving inside. The horizontal axis represents the
time, so that each section displays a different susceptibility.
transverse optical phonon frequencies, and the damping
factor (or characteristic collision frequency). Because
of such frequency dispersion, a SiC substrate supports
nontrivial far and near-field thermal fluctuations,
including the thermal excitation of surface phonon
polaritons. Here, instead on introducing a grating to
outcouple near-field thermal waves [27], we consider
a time-harmonic modulation of the susceptibility:
∆˜χ(r, t) = ε0δχ sin Ωt. As we will show, it leads to new
thermal wave phenomena, associated with the release
of strong epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) thermal fluctuations
trapped within the material body.
Evaluating the dyadic Green’s functions
One of the major technical difficulties in evaluating
thermal emission from a time-modulated system lies
in computing the product of multiple dyadic Green’s
functions, which represent the interaction between
fluctuating currents and the radiated fields. Due to
the translational symmetry of the proposed system,
one can take advantage of an angular spectrum
representation [33,55], whereby the dyadic Green’s
function is expressed as a superposition of plane waves:
G(r,ρ, ω) = k2
0
4π2RRVd2κkˆ
G(κx, κy;ω|z, ρz)eik0κkρk,
where k0=ω/c,κk= (κx, κy,0), and ρk=
(ρx, ρy,0). This formalism provides with valuable
physical intuition by separating the modes into
propagating and evanescent, from the character of
their wavevector. Indeed, for each half-space, ki=
k0(κx, κy,pεi(ω)κz,i), so kz,i =k0˜
kz,i =k0pεi(ω)κz,i,
where κz,i =p1−κ2
R/εi(ω), and κ2
R=κ2
x+κ2
y[32].
Thus, for lossless media (i.e., those where εi(ω) is real),
it is possible to set the usual correspondence of κ2
R≤εi
and κ2
R> εi, with propagating and evanescent modes.