Enhancement of near-field radiative heat transfer via multiple coupling of surface waves with graphene plasmon

Coated silicon carbide (SiC) thin films can efficiently enhance near-field radiative heat transfer among metamaterials. In this study, the near-field heat transfer among graphene–SiC–metamaterial (GSM) multilayer structures was theoretically investigated. Graphene plasmons could be coupled both with electric surface plasmons supported by the metamaterial and with symmetric and anti-symmetric surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) supported by SiC. The heat transfer among GSM structures was considerably improved compared to that among SiC-coated metamaterials when the chemical potential of graphene was not very high. In addition, the near-field heat transfer was enhanced among SiC–graphene–metamaterial multilayer structures, though the heat transfer among these structures was less than that among GSMs owing to the absence of coupling between symmetric SPhPs and graphene plasmons. Hence, heat transfer could be flexibly tuned by modifying the chemical potential of graphene in both configurations. These results provide a basis for active control of the near-field radiative heat transfer in the far-infrared region.