Upper limits to near-field radiative heat transfer: generalizing the blackbody concept
Author(s)
Johnson, Steven G.
Miller, Owen D.
Rodriguez, Alejandro
Johnson, Steven G
Date Issued
September 2016
Publisher
SPIE
Citation
Miller, Owen D., Alejandro W. Rodriguez, and Steven G. Johnson. “
Upper Limits to Near-Field Radiative Heat Transfer: Generalizing the Blackbody Concept.” Edited by Ganapathi S. Subramania and Stavroula Foteinopoulou. Active Photonic Materials VIII (September 16, 2016).
Version
Final published version
Abstract
For 75 years it has been known that radiative heat transfer can exceed far-field blackbody rates when two bodies are separated by less than a thermal wavelength. Yet an open question has remained: what is the maximum achievable radiative transfer rate? Here we describe basic energy-conservation principles that answer this question, yielding upper bounds that depend on the temperatures, material susceptibilities, and separation distance, but which encompass all geometries. The simple structures studied to date fall far short of the bounds, offering the possibility for significant future enhancement, with ramifications for experimental studies as well as thermophotovoltaic applications.
Subjects
Radiative heat transfer, blackbody, thermophotovoltaics
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mathematics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2240718
