Near-field heat transfer across a gap between plane-parallel tungsten layers in~vacuo was studied experimentally with the temperature of the cold sample near 5~K and the temperature of the hot sample in the range 10\char21{}40~K as a function of the gap size d. At gaps smaller than one-third of the peak wavelength $\lambda${}m given by Wien's displacement law, the near-field effect was observed. In comparison with blackbody radiation, hundred times higher values of heat flux were achieved at d$\approx${}1\,\,$\mu${}m. Heat flux normalized to the radiative power transferred between black surfaces showed scaling ($\lambda${}m/d)n, where n$\approx${}2.6. This Letter describes the results of experiment and a comparison with present theory over 4 orders of magnitude of heat flux.

Near-field (NF) radiative heat transfer (RHT) over vacuum space between bodies can exceed the far-field (FF) heat transfer by orders of magnitude. A large portion of the heat flux transferred between metals in NF is at very low frequencies, much lower than in FF. Thus a strong effect of superconductivity on NF RHT can be expected even at radiation temperatures above the superconducting critical temperature, where nearly no effect in FF is observed. We have examined experimentally the RHT between plane-parallel surfaces of niobium. Up to a fivefold decrease in NF heat flux was observed when the colder sample passed from the normal to the superconducting state. We found that a maximum decrease occurs at sample spacings ten times shorter than the spacing of crossover between the NF and FF heat flux, being ≈1000/$T$ (μm). Applying Polder's and Van Hove's relations for NF RHT and BCS theory of superconductivity, we explain this effect and show the roles of transversal electric and magnetic modes in the steep decrease of heat flux below the critical temperature and the subsequent flux saturation at low temperatures.

Near-field (NF) radiative heat transfer (RHT) over vacuum space between closely spaced bodies can exceed the Planck's far-field (FF) values by orders of magnitude. A strong effect of superconductivity on NF RHT between plane-parallel thin-film surfaces of niobium (Nb) was recently discovered and discussed in a short paper [T. Králík et al., Phys. Rev. B 95, 060503 (2017)]. We present here an extensive set of experimental results on NF as well as FF RHT for geometrically identical samples made of niobium nitride (NbN), including a detailed discussion of the experimental setup and errors. The results with NbN show more precise agreement with theory than the original experiments with Nb. We observed a steep decrease of the heat flux at the transition to superconductivity when the colder sample (absorber) passed from the normal to the superconducting (SC) state $(T_{\mathrm{c}}\approx 15.2\mathrm{K})$, corresponding to an up to eightfold contrast between the normal and SC states. This differs dramatically from the situation in the FF regime, where only a weak effect of superconductivity was observed. Surprisingly, the contrast remains sizable even at high temperatures of the hot sample (radiator) with the characteristic energy of radiation far above the SC energy gap. We explain the maximum of contrast in heat flux between the normal and SC states, found at a distance about ten times shorter than the crossover distance between NF and FF heat flux, being $d\approx 1000/T\left[\mu \mathrm{m}\right]$. We analyze in detail the roles of transversal electric (TE) and magnetic (TM) modes in the steep decrease of heat flux below the SC critical temperature and the subsequent flux saturation at low temperatures. Interestingly, we expose experimentally the effect of destructive interference of FF thermal radiation in the vacuum gap, which was observable at temperatures below the absorber superconducting transition.

This paper deals with interference fringe center detection techniques used in low-coherence interferometry for contactless 3D inspection of macroscopic objects. It presents a complex analysis of several frequently used detection techniques and shows their impact on the measurement accuracy. The analysis compares those techniques in terms of computational complexity, measurement accuracy, and resistance to optical dispersion caused by wedge-shaped optical components.

We demonstrate an efficient sensing of both gaseous and aqueous analytes utilizing Bloch surface waves (BSWs) and guided waves (GWs) excited on a truncated one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPhC) composed of six TiO${}_2$/SiO${}_2$ bilayers with a termination layer of TiO${}_2$. For the gaseous analytes, we show that 1DPhC can support the GW excited by an s-polarized wave and the theoretical shift of the resonance wavelength is linear for small changes in the analyte refractive index (RI), giving a constant RI sensitivity of 87 nm per RI unit (RIU). In addition, for the aqueous analytes, the GW excited by s-polarized and BSW by p-polarized waves can be resolved and exploited for sensing applications. We compare two designed and realized 1DPhCs with termination layer thicknesses of 60 nm and 50 nm, respectively, and show experimentally the differences in their very narrow reflectance and phase responses. An RI sensitivity and figure of merit as high as 544.3 nm/RIU and 303 RIU${}^{-1}$, respectively, are obtained for the smaller thickness when both s- and p-polarized BSWs are excited. This is the first demonstration of both very deep BSW-based resonances in two orthogonal polarizations and a very narrow resonance in one of them.