SUMMARYUnderstanding energy transfer via near-field thermal radiation is critical for the future advances of nanotechnology. Evanescent waves and photon tunneling are responsible for the near-field energy transfer being several orders of magnitude greater than that between two blackbodies. The enhanced energy transfer may be used for improving the performance of energy conversion devices, developing novel nanofabrication techniques, and imaging nanostructures with higher spatial resolution. Near-field heat transfer can be analyzed using fluctuational electrodynamics. This article reviews the fundamentals of near-field radiation and outlines the recent advances in this field. Important results are presented for near-field energy transfer between parallel plates and between multilayered structures. Application of near-field thermal radiation in near-field thermophotovoltaic devices is also discussed.

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Recent experiments give evidence of a negative refractive index at microwave frequencies in a microstructured material. This discovery may allow some unique features associated with negative- refraction materials to be observed and applied. This letter describes the calculated results for photon tunneling via evanescent fields in the presence of a layer of negative-refraction material, also known as a left-handed material (LHM) in contrast to the conventional right-handed materials (RHMs). We show that photons may tunnel through a much greater distance when a LHM that has the same magnitudes of refractive index, relative permeability, and thickness as those of the RHM (which could also be air or vacuum) is included between two semi-infinite media.

Coherent thermal emission from surface relief gratings holds promise for spectral and directional control of thermal radiation but is limited to transverse magnetic waves, which can excite surface plasmon or phonon polaritons in the grating structure. We show in this letter that a coherent thermal source can be constructed with a thin polar material coated on a one-dimensional photonic crystal. The excitation of surface waves at the interface of the coated layer and the photonic crystal results in highly spectral and directional emission in the infrared for both the transverse electric wave and the transverse magnetic wave.