Metamaterials with angle selective emissivity in the near-infrared

Metamaterials have been previously studied for their ability to tailor the dispersive IR emissivity of a surface. Here, we investigate two metamaterial structures based on an electromagnetic band-gap surface and a dielectric resonator array for use as near-IR emitters with custom angle selectivity. A genetic algorithm is successfully employed to optimize the metamaterial structures to have minimum emissivity in the normal direction and high emissivity at custom off-normal angles specified by the designer. Two symmetry conditions are utilized to achieve emissivity patterns that are azimuthally stable or distinct in the two orthogonal plane cuts.