Modeling near-field radiative heat transfer from sharp objects using a general three-dimensional numerical scattering technique

We develop a general numerical method to calculate the nonequilibrium radiative heat transfer between a plate and compact objects of arbitrary shapes, making the first accurate theoretical predictions for the total heat transfer and the spatial heat flux profile for three-dimensional compact objects including corners or tips. In contrast to the known sphere-plate heat transfer, we find qualitatively different scaling laws for cylinders and cones at small separations, and, in contrast to a flat or slightly curved object, a sharp cone exhibits a local minimum in the spatially resolved heat flux directly below the tip. Our results may have important implications for near-field thermal writing and surface roughness.