Thermal emission from a single glass fiber

Abstract

In this article, we study the thermal light emission from individual fibers of an industrial glass material, which are elementary building blocks of glass wool boards used for thermal insulation. Thermal emission spectra of single fibers of various diameters partially suspended on air are measured in the far-field by means of infrared spatial modulation spectroscopy.These experimental spectra are compared with the theoretical absorption efficiency spectra of cylindrical shaped fibers calculated analytically in the framework of Mie theory taking as an input the measured permittivity of the industrial glass material. An excellent qualitative agreement is found between the measured thermal radiation spectra and the theoretical absorption efficiency spectra.