Caroli formula in near-field heat transfer between parallel graphene sheets

Abstract

In this work we conduct a close-up investigation into the nature of near-field heat transfer (NFHT) of two graphene sheets in parallel-plate geometry. We develop a fully microscopic and quantum approach using nonequilibrium Green's function method. A Caroli formula for heat flux is proposed and numerically verified. We show our near-field-to-black-body heat flux ratios generally exhibit $1/d^{\alpha}$ dependence, with an effective exponent $\alpha \approx 2.2$, at long distances exceeding 100 nm and up to one micron; in the opposite $d\rightarrow 0$ limit, the values converge to a range within an order of magnitude. We justify this feature by noting it is owing to the breakdown of local conductivity theory, which predicts a $1/d$ dependence. Furthermore, from the numerical result, we find in addition to thermal wavelength, $\lambda_{th}$, a shorter distance scale $\sim$ 10 - 100 nm, comparable to the graphene thermal length ($\hbar v_{F}/k_{B} T$) or Fermi wavelength ($k_{F}^{-1}$), marks the transition point between the short- and long-distance transfer behaviors; within that point, relatively large variation of heat flux in response to doping level becomes a typical characteristic. The emergence of such large variation is tied to relative NFHT contributions from the intra- and inter-band transitions. Beyond that point, scaling of thermal flux $\propto 1/d^{\alpha}$ can be generally observed.