Spectral selectivity of nickel and chromium rough surfaces

The reflectance of metal surfaces with sinusoidal roughness of different periods and depths has been investigated experimentally. The results show clearly that the surface structure can be used to modify the optical properties of metal surfaces at different wavelengths. With a proper choice of groove depth to period ratio, nickel or chromium coatings on gratings have low reflectance in the short wavelength region, but achieve high reflectance in the infrared region. A solar absorptance as high as 93% has been obtained from such a surface. The surfaces are thought to be representative for randomly rough surfaces provided proper correlation length and height variation are chosen. Further, as the absorber is made of a single metal surface, it could be highly temperature resistant.