Rate of heat transfer between a probing body and a sample due to electromagnetic fluctuations

Rate of energy transfer between a small body and a sample by means of the fluctuating electromagnetic fields is studied analytically and numerically. The obtained formula for the rate of heat liberation is valid for the case of arbitrary shapes of interacting bodies. A nonmonotonic behavior of the rate of heat transfer due to the temperature dependence of dielectric function is shown for the first time. Shifts of the Froehlich and Coulomb peaks at the curve of spectral power density of the rate of heat transfer are studied using various models of the local and nonlocal response functions. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.