Entropy density and entropy flux in near-field thermal radiation

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to evaluate entropy density and flux in near-field thermal radiation, accounting for wave effects, and assesses the maximum work extractable in such conditions.

Contribution

A novel approach to calculate entropy metrics in near-field thermal radiation considering interference, diffraction, and tunneling effects.

Findings

Method accurately evaluates entropy in near-field conditions.

Determines maximum work extractable via near-field radiative transfer.

Enhances understanding of thermodynamic limits in near-field heat transfer.

Abstract

We propose a method to evaluate the entropy density and entropy flux in a vacuum gap between two half-spaces that takes into account influence of near-field effects, i.e., interference, diffraction, and tunneling of waves. The method developed is used to determine the maximum work that can be extracted through near-field radiative transfer between two half-spaces at different temperatures.