Riccardo Messina
University of Montpellier
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Featured researches published by Riccardo Messina.
Scientific Reports | 2013
Riccardo Messina; Philippe Ben-Abdallah
Thermophotovoltaic devices are energy-conversion systems generating an electric current from the thermal photons radiated by a hot body. While their efficiency is limited in far field by the Schockley-Queisser limit, in near field the heat flux transferred to a photovoltaic cell can be largely enhanced because of the contribution of evanescent photons, in particular for a source supporting a surface mode. Unfortunately, in the infrared where these systems operate, the mismatch between the surface-mode frequency and the semiconductor gap reduces drastically the potential of this technology. In this paper we propose a modified thermophotovoltaic device in which the cell is covered by a graphene sheet. By discussing the transmission coefficient and the spectral properties of the flux, we show that both the cell efficiency and the produced current can be enhanced, paving the way to promising developments for the production of electricity from waste heat.
Applied Physics Letters | 2013
Svend-Age Biehs; Maria Tschikin; Riccardo Messina; Philippe Ben-Abdallah
We study super-Planckian near-field heat exchanges for multilayer hyperbolic metamaterials using exact scattering-matrix (S-matrix) calculations. We investigate heat exchanges between two multilayer hyperbolic metamaterial structures. We show that the super-Planckian emission of such metamaterials can either come from the presence of surface phonon-polariton modes or from a continuum of hyperbolic modes depending on the choice of composite materials as well as the structural configuration.
Physical Review Letters | 2012
Riccardo Messina; Mauro Antezza; Philippe Ben-Abdallah
Resonant tunneling of surface polaritons across a subwavelength vacuum gap between two polar or metallic bodies at different temperatures leads to an almost monochromatic heat transfer which can exceed by several orders of magnitude the far-field upper limit predicted by Plancks blackbody theory. However, despite its strong magnitude, this transfer is very far from the maximum theoretical limit predicted in the near field. Here we propose an amplifier for the photon heat tunneling based on a passive relay system intercalated between the two bodies, which is able to partially compensate the intrinsic exponential damping of energy transmission probability thanks to three-body interaction mechanisms. As an immediate corollary, we show that the exalted transfer observed in the near field between two media can be exported at larger separation distances using such a relay. Photon heat tunneling assisted by three-body interactions enables novel applications for thermal management at nanoscale, near-field energy conversion and infrared spectroscopy.
Physical Review B | 2013
Riccardo Messina; Maria Tschikin; Svend-Age Biehs; Philippe Ben-Abdallah
A general fluctuation-electrodynamic theory is developed to investigate radiative heat exchanges between objects that are assumed to be small compared with their thermal wavelength (dipolar approximation) in N-body systems immersed in a thermal bath. This theoretical framework is applied to study the dynamic of heating or cooling of three-body systems. We show that many-body interactions allow us to tailor the temperature field distribution and to drastically change the time scale of thermal relaxation processes.
Journal of Optics | 2013
Maria Tschikin; Svend-Age Biehs; Riccardo Messina; Philippe Ben-Abdallah
Here, we address the question of the validity of an effective description for hyperbolic metamaterials in the near-field region. We show that the presence of localized modes such as surface waves drastically limits the validity of the effective description, and requires revisiting the concept of homogenization in the near-field. We demonstrate, from exact scattering matrix calculations for multilayer hyperbolic structures, that one can find surface modes in spectral regions where the effective approach predicts hyperbolic modes only. Hence, the presence of surface modes which are not accounted for in the effective description can lead to physical misinterpretations in the description of hyperbolic materials and their related properties. In particular, we discuss in detail how the choice of the topmost layer affects the validity of the effective medium approach for calculating the local density of states and the super-Planckian thermal radiation.
EPL | 2011
Riccardo Messina; Mauro Antezza
We study the Casimir-Lifshitz force and the radiative heat transfer occurring between two arbitrary bodies, each one held at a given temperature, surrounded by environmental radiation at a third temperature. The system, in stationary configuration out of thermal equilibrium, is characterized by a force and a heat transfer depending on the three temperatures, and explicitly expressed in terms of the scattering operators of each body. We find a closed-form analytic expression valid for bodies of any geometry and dielectric properties. As an example, the force between two parallel slabs of finite thickness is calculated, showing the importance of the environmental temperature as well as the occurrence of a repulsive interaction. An analytic expression is also provided for the force acting on an atom in front of a slab. Our predictions can be relevant for experimental and technological purposes.
Physical Review B | 2013
Riccardo Messina; Jean-Paul Hugonin; Jean-Jacques Greffet; François Marquier; Yannick De Wilde; Ali Belarouci; Luc G. Fréchette; Y. Cordier; Philippe Ben-Abdallah
It is known that the near-field spectrum of the local density of states of the electromagnetic field above a SiC-air interface displays an intense narrow peak due to the presence of a surface polariton. It has been recently shown that this surface wave can be strongly coupled with the sheet plasmon of graphene in graphene-SiC heterosystems. Here, we explore the interplay between these two phenomena and demonstrate that the spectrum of the electromagnetic local density of states in these systems presents two peaks whose positions depend dramatically both on the distance to the interface and on the chemical potential of graphene. This paves the way toward active control of the local density of states.
Physical Review Letters | 2013
Philippe Ben-Abdallah; Riccardo Messina; Svend-Age Biehs; Maria Tschikin; Karl Joulain; Carsten Henkel
The heat transport mediated by near-field interactions in networks of plasmonic nanostructures is shown to be analogous to a generalized random walk process. The existence of superdiffusive regimes is demonstrated both in linear ordered chains and in three-dimensional random networks by analyzing the asymptotic behavior of the corresponding probability distribution function. We show that the spread of heat in these networks is described by a type of Lévy flight. The presence of such anomalous heat-transport regimes in plasmonic networks opens the way to the design of a new generation of composite materials able to transport heat faster than the normal diffusion process in solids.
Physical Review A | 2013
Bruno Bellomo; Riccardo Messina; Didier Felbacq; Mauro Antezza
We discuss how the thermalization of an elementary quantum system is modified when the system is placed in an environment out of thermal equilibrium. To this aim we provide a detailed investigation of the dynamics of an atomic system placed close to a body of arbitrary geometry and dielectric permittivity, whose temperature
Physical Review A | 2014
Riccardo Messina; Mauro Antezza
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