Efficient far-infrared thermal bremsstrahlung radiation from a heterojunction bipolar transistor

We investigate the far-infrared thermal radiation properties of a heterojunction bipolar transistor. The device conveniently provides a high electric field for electrons to heat the lattice and the electron gas in a background with ions embedded. Because of very high effective temperature of the electron gas in the collector, the electron-ion bremsstrahlung makes efficient the thermal radiation in the far-infrared region. The transistor can yield a radiation power of 0.1 mW with the spectral region between 2 and 75 THz and a power conversion efficiency of 6×10^-4. Such output contains a power of 20μW in the low-frequency part (2-20 THz) of the spectrum.