Near-field radiative heat transfer in many-body systems

Abstract

Near-field radiative heat transfer refers to the transport of thermal energy by electromagnetic radiation between objects separated by less than a thermal wavelength. It involves tunneling processes that can lead to large deviations from Planck's law for blackbody radiation. These problems are of interest at a fundamental level and for devices that exploit heat transport on the nanoscale. This review summarizes the current state of this important field.