BLACKBODY RADIATION

A blackbody absorbs and emits radiation perfectly, i.e. it does not favor any particular
range of radiation frequencies over another. Therefore the intensity of the emitted radiation
is related to the amount of energy in the body at thermal equilibrium. The history of the
development of the theory of the blackbody radiation is very interesting since it led to the
discovery of the quantum theory [1].
Early experimental studies established that the emissivity of a blackbody is a function of
frequency and temperature. A measure of the emissivity can be the term (, T) which is
the density of radiation energy per unit volume per unit frequency (J/m
3
Hz) at an absolute
temperature T and at frequency . The rst theoretical studies used the very successful at
that point theory of Maxwell equations for the determination of the density of electromagnetic
modes and from that the determination of (, T). For example, Wilhelm Wien in 1896 used a
simple model to derive the expression
(, T) =
3
exp(/T) (1)
where , were constants. However, the above equation failed in the low frequency range of
the experimental data.
In June 1900 Lord Rayleigh published a model based on the modes of electromagnetic waves
in a cavity. Each mode possessed a particular frequency and could give away and take up energy
in a continuous manner. Using the standard electromagnetic theory of a cavity resonator (see
Fig. 1) with perfect conductor walls the following dispersion equation can be easily obtained
[2, 3, 4] (see Appendix A) :
_
m
a
_
2
+
_
p
b
_
2
+
_
q
d
_
2
=
_
2
c
_
2
n
2
, (2)
where n is the index of refraction of the medium, and a, b, and d are the dimensions of the
cavity resonator in the x, y, and z directions, and m, p, q are positive integers. If for simplicity
it is assumed that the cavity is a cube, a = b = d then the previous equation can be written as
m
2
+ p
2
+ q
2
=
_
2
c
_
2
a
2
n
2
=
_
2na
c
_
2
. (3)
In order to count the electromagnetic modes up to frequency it is necessary to evaluate the
number of modes that t in the one eighth of the sphere that is shown in Fig. 2. Thus, the
total number of electromagnetic modes N() can be determined as follows
N() =
(1/8) cavity volume
volume of a mode
=
(1/8)(4/3)(2an/c)
3
1 1 1
=
4
3

3
n
3
a
3
c
3
. (4)

written by Prof. Elias N. Glytsis, Last Update: March 17, 2011

1
Figure 1: Cavity box for the determination of the density of electromagnetic modes.
Due to TE and TM mode degeneracy the above number should be multiplied by a factor of 2.
Therefore, the total number of electromagnetic modes per volume, ^(), is
^() =
N()
V olume = a
3
=
8
3

3
n
3
c
3
. (5)
Then the density of electromagnetic modes per frequency is
d^()
d
=
8
2
n
3
c
3
. (6)
In the last equation it is assumed that the refractive index n is independent of frequency (or
freespace wavelength). Usually for all materials there is dispersion, i.e. dependence of the
refractive index on the frequency (or wavelength) of the electromagnetic radiation. In the
latter case n = n() and in the above derivative over frequency this dependence must be taken
into account. Then the previous equation can be written as follows [5]
d^()
d
=
8
2
n
2
(n +
dn
d
)
c
3
=
8
2
n
2
n
g
c
3
. (7)
where n
g
= n +
dn
d
= n
dn
d
is the group refractive index and is important in materials such
semiconductors and bers where the refractive index dependence on frequency (or wavelength)
can be signicant. For the remainder of this section it will be assumed that the refractive index
is independent of frequency (or wavelength) for the sake of simplicity.
Rayleigh assigned an energy k
B
T/2 to each electromagnetic mode (k
B
T/2 for the electric
eld oscillation and k
B
T/2 for the magnetic eld oscillation, where k
B
= 1.3806610
23
J/

K).
Therefore, the electromagnetic energy density per unit frequency (, T) becomes
(, T) =
d^()
d
k
B
T =
8
2
n
3
c
3
k
B
T. (8)
2
m
q
p
na
c
2
nb
c
2
nd
c
2
m
q
p
na
c
2
nb
c
2
nd
c
2
Figure 2: The eighth of the sphere in the mpq space for the determination of the number of electromagnetic
modes up to frequency .
The last equation is known as the Rayleigh-Jeans distribution of a blackbody radiation and
fails dramatically in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum (historically referred as the ultraviolet
catastrophe). This can be seen in the Rayleigh-Jeans curve of Fig. 3.
It has been suggested that Planck discovered his radiation formula in the evening of October
7, 1900 [1]. Planck had taken into account some additional experimental data by Heinrich
Reubens and Ferdinand Kurlbaum as well as Wiens formula and he deduced an expression
that tted all the available experimental data. His formula was the now known as the
blackbody radiation formula given by
(, T) =
8
2
n
3
c
3
h
exp(h/k
B
T) 1
, (9)
where h = 6.62610
34
Joule sec is known as Plancks constant. The above expression reduces
to Wiens formula for high frequencies (i.e. h/k
B
T 1) and to Rayleigh-Jeans formula for
low frequencies (i.e. h/k
B
T 1). An example of Plancks radiation formula is shown in Fig. 3
along with Rayleigh-Jeans and Wiens approximations for a blackbody of absolute temperature
T = 6000

K.
Having obtained his formula Planck was concerned to discover its physical basis. It was hard
to argue about the density of electromagnetic modes determination. Therefore, he focused on
the average energy per electromagnetic mode. Planck made the hypothesis that electromagnetic
energy at frequency could only appear as a multiple of the step size h which was a quantum
of energy (later it was called photon). Energies between h and 2h do not occur. Then he
used Boltzmanns statistics to compute the average energy of an electromagnetic mode. If
3
0 2 4 6 8 10
x 10
14
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
x 10
15
Frequency, (Hz)
S
p
e
c
t
r
a
l

E
n
e
r
g
y

D
e
n
s
i
t
y
,

(
J
/
m
3

H
z
)
Blackbody Radiation, T = 6000K


Planck
RayleighJeans
Wien
Figure 3: Blackbody radiation for T = 6000

K. The initial theories by Rayleigh-Jeans and Wien are also

shown for comparison.
E
1
, E
2
, E
3
, . . ., are the allowed energies then according to Boltzmanns statistics the relative
probability that E
j
can occur is exp(E
j
/k
B
T). Then using the quantum hypothesis E
j
= jh
the average energy of an electromagnetic mode can be determined as follows
E) =
1he
h/k
B
T
+ 2he
2h/k
B
T
+
1 +e
h/k
B
T
+ e
2h/k
B
T
+
=

n=1
nhe
nh/k
B
T

n=0
e
h/k
B
T
=
h
exp(h/k
B
T) 1
. (10)
Using the above calculation of the average energy of an electromagnetic mode the Plancks
formula can be rewritten with the physical meaning of each of its terms
(, T) =
8
2
n
3
c
3
. .
Number of em modes
photon energy
..
h
1
exp(h/k
B
T) 1
. .
Number of photons/mode
. (11)
The density of electromagnetic modes can also be expressed per wavelength and is given by
d^()
d
=
8n
3

4
, (12)
and the corresponding density of electromagnetic radiation of a blackbody per wavelength is
(, T) =
8n
3

4
hc/
exp(hc/k
B
T) 1
. (13)
Many times in the literature the blackbody radiation formula is expressed in terms of the
radiant exitance of the blackbody (power/unit area = W/m
2
). The Poynting vector expresses
the power per unit area of the electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, the Poynting vector is
4
given by P
avg
= (1/2)[E[
2
where E is the electric eld amplitude of the electromagnetic
wave, and =
_

0
/n
2

0
is the intrinsic impedance of the nonmagnetic medium in which the
electromagnetic radiation propagates. The energy density of the electromagnetic radiation is
given by w
em
= (1/2)n
2

0
[E[
2
. Therefore, P
avg
= (c/n)w
em
. However, w
em
= (, T)d =
(, T)d and then P
avg
can be determined as follows
P
avg
=
8n
2

2
c
2
h
exp(h/k
B
T) 1
d,
P
avg
=
8n
2
c

4
hc/
exp(hc/k
B
T) 1
d. (14)
The radiance L (in W/m
2
sr where sr =steradian) of a blackbody source (or any radiant
source) is dened as L = d
2
P/dA

/d where d
2
P is the dierential electromagnetic power,
dA

is the dierential area element perpendicular to the direction of propagation, and d is

the dierential solid angle by which the dierential area is subtended. Integrating all over the
solid angles it can be easily shown that 4L =
_
(d
2
P/dA

) = P
avg
. Of course it has been
assumed that the radiance L is constant (Lambertian source). Then the radiance of blackbody
radiation can be expressed as follows
L =
2n
2

2
c
2
h
exp(h/k
B
T) 1
d,
L =
2n
2
c

4
hc/
exp(hc/k
B
T) 1
d. (15)
From radiometry it can be easily determined that the radiance L and the radiant exitance
M (W/m
2
) of a Lambertian source can be related from the equation M = L. Therefore, the
radiant exitance per unit frequency (power/unit area/frequency = W/m
2
Hz) of a blackbody
radiator can be determined to be
M

=
2n
2

2
c
2
h
exp(h/k
B
T) 1
, (16)
while the same exitance expressed per wavelength interval (power/unit area/wavelength =
W/m
2
m) is given by
M

=
2n
2
c

4
hc/
exp(hc/k
B
T) 1
. (17)
Integrating the above equations over all frequencies (or wavelengths) the radiant exitance M of
a blackbody radiator at temperature T can be determined. This is known as Stefans law and
is expressed by the following equation
M =
_

0
M

d =
_
2
5
k
4
B
15h
3
c
2
_
n
2
T
4
= n
2
T
4
(18)
where = 5.67 10
8
W/m
2
K
4
= Stefan-Boltzmann constant (usually the refractive index
is considered that of vacuum or air, i.e. n 1). The maxima of the blackbody radiator curve
5
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
0
2
4
x 10
7
Blackbody Radiation and Wien Displacement
Freespace Wavelength (m)
E
x
i
t
a
n
c
e

M

(
W
/
m
2

m

s
r
)
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
0
2
4
x 10
4
A
b
s
o
l
u
t
e

T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
e

T
,

(
K
)
Figure 4: Blackbody radiation for T = 6000

K as a function of freespace wavelength. The Wiens displacement

law is also shown for the same wavelength range.
can be found from the solution of the equation
dM

(
m
)
d
= 0
hc

m
k
B
T
= 4.96511423
m
T = 2897.382 m

K, (19)
where the last part of the above equation described how the peak of the blackbody radiation
shifts with the temperature and it is known as Wiens displacement law. An example of M

for T = 6000

K and Wiens displacement law are shown in Fig. 4.

The blackbody radiation represents the upper limit to the amount of radiation that a real
body may emit at a given temperature. At any given wavelength , emissivity (), is dened
as the ratio of the actual emitted radiant exitance

M

over the emitted radiant exitance of a

blackbody M

. (20)
Emissivity is a measure of how strongly a body radiates at a given wavelength. Emissivity
ranges between zero and one for all real substances (0

1). A gray body is dened as

a substance whose emissivity is independent of wavelength, i.e.

= . In the atmosphere,
clouds and gases have emissivities that vary rapidly with wavelength. The ocean surface has
near unit emissivity in the visible regions.
For a body in local thermodynamic equilibrium the amount of thermal energy emitted must
be equal to the energy absorbed. Otherwise the body would heat up or cool down in time,
contrary to the assumption of equilibrium. As a result of this it can be said that materials
6
that are strong absorbers at a given wavelength are also strong emitters at that wavelength.
Similarly weak absorbers are weak emitters.
Blackbody radiation is also used to establish a color scale as a function of the absolute
temperature. The color temperature of a light specimen is the temperature of a blackbody with
the closest spectral distribution. For example, the sun has a typical color temperature of 5500

K.
7
APPENDIX A: Determination of Electromagnetic Modes
in Rectangular Metallic Cavities
The purpose of this Appendix is to review the determination of modes in a rectangular-shaped
cavity which is considered to have perfectly conducting walls while the material lling the cavity
is homogeneous and isotropic [2, 3, 4]. The approach that will be presented here is rather
independent from the knowledge of the solutions of rectangular metallic waveguides solutions
which is normally the traditional manner in determining the cavity modes. The rectangular
cavity with the corresponding coordinate system is shown in Fig. 1. It is assumed that the
determination of the TE
mpq
modes is seeked, i.e., it is assumed that E
z
= 0 while all other eld
components E
x
, E
y
, H
x
, H
y
, H
z
are in general nonzero. Every eld component satises the
Helmholtz equation

2
S + k
2
0
n
2
S =
_

2
x
2
+

2
y
2
+

2
z
2
_
S + k
2
0
n
2
S = 0, (A.1)
where S = E
x
, E
y
, H
x
, H
y
, H
z
, k
0
= /c = 2/
0
is the freespace wavenumber, and n is the
refractive index of the material inside the cavity. Because of the rectangular geometry it is
reasonable to seek solutions based on the method of separation of variables, i.e., S(x, y, z) =
X(x)Y (y)Z(z) where X(x) = Acos(k
x
x) + Bsin(k
x
x), Y (y) = C cos(k
y
y) + Dsin(k
y
y), and
Z(z) = E cos(k
z
z)+F sin(k
z
z), with k
2
x
+k
2
y
+k
2
z
= k
2
0
n
2
. From the two curl Maxwells equations

E = j
0

H, and

H = +j
0
n
2

E, for the TE
mpq
modes the following equations are
derived:
E
x
=
1
j
0
n
2
_
H
z
y

H
y
z
_
(A.2)
E
y
=
1
j
0
n
2
_
H
x
z

H
z
x
_
(A.3)
E
z
=
1
j
0
n
2
_
H
y
x

H
x
y
_
= 0 (A.4)
H
x
= +
1
j
0
E
y
z
(A.5)
H
y
=
1
j
0
E
x
z
(A.6)
H
z
=
1
j
0
_
E
y
x

E
x
y
_
(A.7)
Since the cavity is surrounded by perfect conducting walls the boundary conditions on the
various eld components are that the normal to the wall boundary magnetic eld components
are zero as well as the tangential to the boundaries electric eld components. These conditions
can be expressed by the following equations:
H
x
(x = 0, y, z) = H
x
(x = a, y, z) = 0 (A.8)
8
H
y
(x, y = 0, z) = H
y
(x, y = b, z) = 0 (A.9)
H
z
(x, y, z = 0) = H
z
(x, y, z = d) = 0 (A.10)
E
x
(x, y = 0, z) = E
x
(x, y = b, z) = E
x
(x, y, z = 0) = E
x
(x, y, z = d) = 0 (A.11)
E
y
(x = 0, y, z) = E
y
(x = a, y, z) = E
y
(x, y, z = 0) = E
y
(x, y, z = d) = 0 (A.12)
where it is reminded that for the TE
mpq
modes E
z
= 0, x, y, z. In order to satisfy the boundary
conditions for the H
x
component the X(x) = sin(k
xm
x) where k
xm
= (m/a) and m = 0, 1, .
Similarly, for H
y
to satisfy the boundary conditions the Y (y) = sin(k
yp
y) where k
yp
= (p/b)
and p = 0, 1, . Therefore, the solutions for H
x
and H
y
take the following form
H
x
(x, y, z) = sin
_
m
a
x
_
Y
1
(y)Z
1
(z), with
_
m
a
_
2
+ k
2
y
+ k
2
z
= k
2
0
n
2
, (A.13)
H
y
(x, y, z) = X
2
(x) sin
_
p
b
y
_
Z
2
(z), with k
2
x
+
_
p
b
_
2
+ k
2
z
= k
2
0
n
2
. (A.14)
In order to force the E
z
eld component to be zero from Eq. (A.4) the following should hold
x, y, z,
1
j
0
n
2
_
dX
2
dx
sin
_
p
b
y
_
Z
2
(z)
_
=
1
j
0
n
2
_
sin
_
m
a
x
_
dY
1
dy
Z
1
(z)
_
x, y, z. (A.15)
Using X
2
(x) = A
2
cos(k
x
x) + B
2
sin(k
x
x) and Y
1
(y) = C
1
cos(k
y
y) + D
1
sin(k
y
y) it is straight-
forward to show that B
2
= 0 = D
1
, and k
x
= (m/a), k
y
= (p/b), and the coecients of the
Z
1
(z) and Z
2
(z) are related in such a way that the eld components H
x
and H
y
are expressed
by the following equations:
H
x
(x, y, z) = sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
[E
1
cos(k
z
z) + F
1
sin(k
z
z)], (A.16)
H
y
(x, y, z) = cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
p/b
m/a
[E
1
cos(k
z
z) + F
1
sin(k
z
z)], (A.17)
where, of course (m/a)
2
+(p/b)
2
+k
2
z
= k
2
0
n
2
. Now in order to satisfy the boundary condition
for the H
z
eld component the following solution is valid
H
z
(x, y, z) = H
0z
X
3
(x)Y
3
(y) sin
_
q
d
z
_
. (A.18)
From the z-dependence of H
z
it is implied that the E
x
and E
y
eld components have the
following form due to Eq. (A.7)
E
x
(x, y, z) = E
0x
X
1
(x)Y
1
(y) sin
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.19)
E
y
(x, y, z) = E
0y
X
2
(x)Y
2
(y) sin
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.20)
where E
0x
, E
0y
are amplitude constants. Then applying Eqs. (A.5) and (A.6) for the H
x
and
H
y
components respectively, in conjunction with Eqs. (A.16). (A.17), (A.19), and (A.20), the
9
following conditions must be satised x, y, z,
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
[E
1
cos(k
z
z) + F
1
sin(k
z
z)] = +
1
j
0
_
E
0y
q
d
cos
_
q
d
z
_
X
2
(x)Y
2
(y)
_
,
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
p/b
m/a
[E
1
cos(k
z
z) + F
1
sin(k
z
z)] =
1
j
0
_
E
0x
q
d
cos
_
q
d
z
_
X
1
(x)Y
1
(y)
_
.
From the last two equations the following solutions for the E
x
, E
y
, H
x
, H
y
elds can be obtained
H
x
=
E
0y
j
0
_
q
d
_
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.21)
H
y
=
E
0y
j
0
p/b
m/a
_
q
d
_
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.22)
E
x
= E
0y
p/b
m/a
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.23)
E
y
= E
0y
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
. (A.24)
The last component to be determined is the H
z
. Using the solutions for E
x
and E
y
as well as
Eq. (A.7) and Eq. (A.18) the following solution for H
z
is obtained
H
z
=
E
0y
j
0
a
m
__
m
a
_
2
+
_
p
b
_
2
_
cos
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
. (A.25)
In order to write the equations in the usual format [3, 4] found in the literature the coecient of
the H
z
component can be dened as C = (E
0y
/j
0
)(a/m)k
2
c
where k
2
c
= (m/a)
2
+(p/b)
2
.
Using C as the free parameter in the expressions of the elds of the TE
mpq
mode the elds are
summarized in the form.
TE
mpq
Modes :
E
x
= C
j
0
k
2
c
_
p
b
_
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.26)
E
y
= C
j
0
k
2
c
_
m
a
_
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
. (A.27)
E
z
= 0, (A.28)
H
x
= C
1
k
2
c
_
m
a
__
q
d
_
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.29)
H
y
= C
1
k
2
c
_
p
b
__
q
d
_
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.30)
H
z
= C cos
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
. (A.31)
In exactly similar manner the solutions of the TM
mpq
modes can be calculated where the
H
z
= 0. These solutions are summarized next for completeness.
TM
mpq
Modes :
E
x
= D
1
k
2
c
_
m
a
__
q
d
_
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.32)
10
E
y
= D
1
k
2
c
_
p
b
__
q
d
_
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
sin
_
q
d
z
_
. (A.33)
E
z
= Dsin
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.34)
H
x
= D
j
0
n
2
k
2
c
_
p
b
_
sin
_
m
a
x
_
cos
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.35)
H
y
= D
j
0
n
2
k
2
c
_
m
a
_
cos
_
m
a
x
_
sin
_
p
b
y
_
cos
_
q
d
z
_
, (A.36)
H
z
= 0. (A.37)
where now D has been selected as the free parameter coecient. For both TE
mpq
and TM
mpq
modes the dispersion relation and the corresponding resonance frequencies are given by the
following equations
k
2
0
n
2
=
_
m
a
_
2
+
_
p
b
_
2
+
_
q
d
_
2
, (A.38)

mnq
=
c
n

_
m
a
_
2
+
_
p
b
_
2
+
_
q
d
_
2
. (A.39)
REFERENCES
1. J. Baggott, The Meaning of Quantum Theory, (Oxford University Press, New York, 1992).
2. C. A. Balanis, Advanced Engineering Electromagnetics, (John Wiley & Sons, New York,
1989).
3. D. K. Cheng, Fields and Waves in Electromagnetics, 2nd Ed., (Addison Wesley,New York,
1989).
4. S. Ramo, J. R. Whinnery, and T. Van Duzer, Fields and Waves in Communications Elec-
tronics, 3rd Ed., (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1993).
5. J. T. Verdeyen, Laser Electronics, 3rd Ed., ch. 7, (Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1995).
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