We report a metamaterial design for a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) emitter. TPVs are similar to photovoltaic solar cells, but they convert heat to electricity instead of sunlight. The focus of this paper is on the emitter stage of the TPV system, which converts the heat into a spectral band which is easily absorbable by the TPV photodiode. The proposed structure consists of a platinum metallic element, an alumina dielectric spacer, and platinum grounding plane on a sapphire substrate. This perfect absorber based metamaterial emitter is shown to robustly operate at 600 °C. This temperature is high enough to enable TPV use for many industrial applications. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.