Physical Transformation AtlasPTA
Phenomenon · phenomenon:thermoradiative-effect

Thermoradiative effect

A warm semiconductor diode facing a colder sky emits net radiation and develops a negative-illumination photocurrent; the diode does work while radiating heat away.

Optics and photonicsfirst reported 2015also: negative illumination, thermoradiative photovoltaics

Atlas record: 3 claims reference this phenomenon — 2 theoretically predicted and 1 established.

Explorerelations · matrix context · routes · sources · cite

conditions: solid · semiconductor required
3claims1enumerated routes0routes with complete-composition evidence0candidate routes not searched2cited sources

Relations

drives · 1
Radiative imbalance with the sky—drives→Thermoradiative effecttheoretically predicted
  • a narrow-gap diode warmer than the sky it faces, emitting net radiation
Theory is established; laboratory demonstrations report microwatt-scale currents, well short of the predicted limits.
produces · 1
Thermoradiative effect—produces→Charge carrierstheoretically predicted
member of · 1
Thermoradiative effect—member of→Photovoltaicestablished

Matrix context

D = disequilibrium row · C = coupling family column. A cell reads the state of the atlas for that pair.

D.12 × C.18 · Radiative imbalance with the sky × Photovoltaic · Theoretical
family: Photovoltaic (C.18)

Enumerated routes through this · 1

Cited sources · 2

  1. [1]
    R. Strandberg. Theoretical efficiency limits for thermoradiative energy conversion (2015)
    Journal of Applied Physics 117, 055105 · doi:10.1063/1.4907392 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record
  2. [2]
    P. T. Landsberg, G. Tonge. Thermodynamic energy conversion efficiencies (1980)
    Journal of Applied Physics 51, R1–R20 · doi:10.1063/1.328187 · crossref ✓ 2026-09-19 · record

Cite this entity

Physical Transformation Atlas (2026). entity phenomenon:thermoradiative-effect: Thermoradiative effect. Dataset revision rbfbfcbb70e57 (hash of the canonical data). https://physical-transformation-atlas.wldud5192.workers.dev/phenomenon/thermoradiative-effect

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