Photonic near infrared heater

1. A multilayer photonic stack comprising:

a lower portion of layers comprising a first layer of A and a first layer of B,

the first layer of A comprising at least one of Al, Au, W, Ag, Ni, Ti, Pt, and Cr, and

the first layer of B comprising at least one of Al 2 O 3 , AlN, MgO, SiO 2 , TiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , MgF 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , SiC, Si, Ge, and indium tin oxide (ITO); and

an upper portion of layers disposed on the lower portion of layers, the upper portion of layers comprising a plurality of sets of a layer of C and a layer of D disposed on the layer of C,

the layer of C and the layer of D each comprising at least one of Al 2 O 3 , AlN, MgO, SiO 2 , TiO 2 , Si 3 N 4 , MgF 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , SiC, Si, Ge, and indium tin oxide (ITO), and the layer of C and the layer of D being different compositions;

the multilayer photonic stack having an emissivity in the near infrared (NIR) range with the emissivity being at a maximum at a wavelength between 0.7 microns and 3 microns, and the multilayer photonic stack being disposed on a filament coil of a radiative heater.

2. The multilayer photonic stack of claim 1 , wherein the lower portion of layers comprises a second layer of A to form a structure comprising the first layer of B disposed between the first layer of A and the second layer of A.

3. The multilayer photonic stack of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the first layer of A is 5 nanometers to 1 micron, and wherein a thickness of the first layer of B is 5 nanometers to 1 micron.

4. The multilayer photonic stack of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the layer of C is 5 nanometers to 1 micron, and wherein a thickness of the layer of D is 5 nanometers to 1 micron.

5. The multilayer photonic stack of claim 2 , wherein a thickness of the second layer of A is 5 nanometers to 1 micron.