Interactions of thermal radiation with matter at the nanoscale are of both fundamental interest and of great importance for sustainability since thermal radiation interactions in the infrared regime define the temperature and climate of the Earth. Materials such as graphene enable extreme light confinement via polaritonic interactions at the nanoscale, and electrostatic gate control of the carrier density in graphene enables active tuning of the light matter interactions. Nanophotonic design also gives opportunities to create infrared metastructures for active and passive radiative cooling and as selective solar absorbers for solar thermal reactors.
