Thermal emission stimulated by excitation of metastable states

Waves interference inside thin films creates fine structures in the thermal emission spectrum of film when the magnitude of film thickness is of the same order than the coherence length of light. Here, we present an alternative to the theory of partially coherent light to explain these ripples pattern and easily predict the radiative properties of films in intermediate regime. The starting point of this theory is based on the observation that unlike vacuum, matter supports the presence of unstable electromagnetic waves with a finite lifetime. For thin absorbing films, we demonstrate that many of these metastable states are quantified and can be excited by an external radiation field. A direct connection is then established between the peaks of emission and these modes. These results open new prospects for the theoretical study and modelling of radiative exchanges inside and between microscale media.