Radiative heat transfer from a black body to dielectric nanoparticles

Heating of dielectric nanoparticles by black-body radiation is investigated by using molecular-dynamics simulation. The thermal interaction with the radiation is modeled by coupling the ions with a random electric field and including a radiation reaction force. This approach shows that the heat is absorbed by the polariton mode. Its subsequent redistribution among other vibration modes strongly depends on the particle size and on temperature. We observe energy trapping in a finite subset of vibrational modes and study the relaxation pathway of (MgO)(4) by performing a selective excitation with a deterministic force.