26th Australian Institute of Physics Congress and the Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics

Session

COMMAD: Thermoradiative Power and Processes

COMMAD

8 Dec 2026, 11:00

Belinda Hutchinson Building (The University of Sydney )

Conveners

COMMAD: Thermoradiative Power and Processes

• Charles Musca (The University of Western Australia)

70. Introduction to thermoradiative diodes for terrestrial power generation

Jamie Harrison (UNSW Sydney)

08/12/2026, 11:00

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Invited talk

A thermoradiative diode (TRD) is a low-bandgap optoelectronic device that generates power through thermal emission to a colder environment. Its operation can be explained with a simple detailed balance model, where in an ideal device, current is given by the difference between emitted and absorbed photons. When more photons are emitted than absorbed from the cold environment, the device...

163. Thermoradiative Diodes Using Black Phosphorus van der Waals Materials

Yuchen Sun (University of Melbourne)

08/12/2026, 11:30

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

The high radiative efficiencies and strong absorption coefficients of van der Waals materials position them well for optoelectronic power generation via radiative exchange. These materials have been investigated for use in photovoltaic solar cells, however, their use in infrared thermoradiative and thermophotovoltaic applications remains unexplored. In this study, we fabricate a black...

259. Thermoelectric power generation in a graphene pn-junction: Towards graphene thermoradiative devices

Griffin Stacey (Monash University)

08/12/2026, 11:45

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

Graphene's excellent optoelectronic properties have been exploited to achieve sensitive broadband photodetection via the hot-electron photothermoelectric effect. We propose that the same effect could be utilised for mid-infrared thermoradiative energy harvesting with high internal quantum efficiency in graphene.

As a step towards this goal, we have fabricated a high-quality graphene...

62. Utilising semiconductor negative luminescence for communications

Michael Nielsen (UNSW Sydney)

08/12/2026, 12:00

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

Negative luminescence is the symmetric process to electroluminescence, the mechanism by which light-emitting diodes (LEDs) produce light, wherein the mid-infrared (MIR) semiconductor photodiode emit less radiation under reverse bias than it would at equilibrium. Here, we demonstrate the use of negative luminescence for a new covert communications method in which photon emission is rapidly...

359. Photonic Engineering of PET Textiles for Broadband Radiative Cooling and Moisture-Managed Thermal Regulation

Mr Ming Gao (School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney)

08/12/2026, 12:15

COMMAD - Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices

Contributed Oral

Passive radiative cooling has emerged as an effective photonic strategy for sub-ambient thermal regulation by simultaneously minimizing solar absorption and enhancing thermal emission within the atmospheric window. However, developing scalable, mechanically robust, and manufacturable radiative cooling textiles remains a significant challenge.

In this work, we report a scalable surface...