Probing Near-Field Thermal Emission of Localized Surface Phonons from Silicon Carbide Nanopillars

Thermal emission of localized surface phonons (LSPhs) from nanostructures of polaritonic materials is a promising mechanism for tuning the spectrum of near-field thermal radiation. Previous studies have theoretically shown that thermal emission of LSPhs results in narrow-band peaks in the near-field spectra, whose spectral locations can be modulated by changing the dimensions of the nanostructure. However, near-field thermal emission of LSPhs has not been experimentally explored yet. In this study, we measure the spectrum of near-field thermal radiation from arrays of 6H-silicon carbide (6H-SiC) nanopillars using an internal-reflection-element based spectroscopy technique. We present an experimental demonstration of thermal emission of the transverse dipole, quadrupole, and octupole as well as longitudinal monopole from 6H-SiC nanopillars at a near-field distance from the array. We show that the spectral locations of the longitudinal monopole and transverse dipole are significantly affected by the near-field coupling between neighboring nanopillars as well as the intercoupling of the nanopillars and the substrate. We also experimentally demonstrate that the spectrum of near-field thermal radiation from 6H-SiC nanopillar arrays can be tuned by varying the dimensions of the nanopillars, providing an opportunity for designing emitters with tailored near-field thermal radiation.