Simulation of two-dimensional Mo photonic crystal surface for high-temperature solar-selective absorber

A two-dimensional (2D) Mo photonic crystal (PhC) surface is proposed for high-temperature solar-selective absorber. The influence of PhC structural parameters on the reflectance between 0.3 and 12 mu m is studied by the rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) method. Simulation results show that such a surface with submicrometer periodicity exhibits high solar absorbance a together with low thermal emittance epsilon, while the former can be improved by grading profile and high aspect ratio. Optimized microcone Mo PhC surface exhibits a normal solar absorbance alpha(n) = 0.919 and a hemispherical thermal emittance epsilon(h) = 0.149 at 1000 degrees C, showing its promising potential for high-temperature solar-selective absorbers.