Heat transfer between nanoparticles: Thermal conductance for near-field interactions

摘要

We analyze the heat transfer between two nanoparticles separated by adistance lying in the near-field domain in which energy interchange is due toCoulomb interactions. The thermal conductance is computed by assuming that theparticles have charge distributions characterized by fluctuating multipolemoments in equilibrium with heat baths at two different temperatures. Thisquantity follows from the fluctuation-dissipation theorem (FDT) for thefluctuations of the multipolar moments. We compare the behavior of theconductance as a function of the distance between the particles with the resultobtained by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The formalism proposedenables us to provide a comprehensive explanation of the marked growth of theconductance when decreasing the distance between the nanoparticles.