WPTherml: A Python Package for the Design of Materials for Harnessing Heat

Abstract

WPTherml is a Python package for the design of materials with tailored optical and thermal properties for the vast number of energy applications where control of absorption and emission of radiation, or conversion of heat to radiation or vice versa, is paramount. The optical properties are treated within classical electrodynamics via the Transfer Matrix Method which rigorously solve Maxwell's equations for layered isotropic media. A flexible multilayer class connects rigorous electrodynamics properties to figures of merit for a variety of thermal applications, and facilitates extensions to other applications for greater reuse potential. WPTherml can be accessed at https://github.com/FoleyLab/wptherml.