Near-field thermophotovoltaic energy conversion by excitation of magnetic polariton inside nanometric vacuum gaps with nanostructured Drude emitter and backside reflector

•The effect of magnetic polariton (MP) on the performance of a near field thermophotovoltaic system containing a Drude grating emitter, an ultra-thin In0.18Ga0.82Sb cell supported by a lossless backside reflector is investigated.•Magnetic polariton excitation above the cell band gap can enhance the conversion efficiency of a near field TPV system with grating emitter over a planar one.•The effects of PV cell thickness and vacuum gap distance are investigated on the TPV performance.