Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T18:42:08.418Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

15 - Fluctuation-induced interactions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 November 2012

Lukas Novotny  and
Bert Hecht
Lukas Novotny
Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York and ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Bert Hecht
Affiliation:
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany
Get access

Summary

The thermal and zero-point motion of electrically charged particles inside materials gives rise to a fluctuating electromagnetic field. Quantum theory tells us that the fluctuating particles can only assume discrete energy states and, as a consequence, the emitted fluctuating radiation takes on the spectral form of blackbody radiation. However, while the familiar blackbody radiation formula is strictly correct at thermal equilibrium, it is only an approximation for non-equilibrium situations. This approximation is reasonable at large distances from the emitting material (far-field) but it can strongly deviate from the true behavior close to material surfaces (near-field).

Because fluctuations of charge and current in materials lead to dissipation via radiation, no object at finite temperature can be in thermal equilibrium in free space. Equilibrium with the radiation field can be achieved only by confining the radiation to a finite space. However, in most cases the object can be considered to be close to equilibrium and the non-equilibrium behavior can be described by linear-response theory. In this regime, the most important theorem is the fluctuation-dissipation theorem. It relates the rate of energy dissipation in a non-equilibrium system to the fluctuations that occur spontaneously at different times in equilibrium systems.

The fluctuation-dissipation theorem is of relevance for the understanding of fluctuating fields near nanoscale objects and optical interactions at nanoscale distances (e.g. the van der Waals force). This chapter is intended to provide a detailed derivation of important aspects in fluctuational electrodynamics.

Type
Chapter
Information
Principles of Nano-Optics , pp. 474 - 499
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] H. B., Callen and T. A., Welton, “Irreversibility and generalized noise,” Phys. Rev. 83, 34–40 (1951).Google Scholar
[2] D., Chandler, Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics. New York: Oxford University Press (1987).Google Scholar
[3] L., Mandel and E., Wolf, Optical Coherence and Quantum Optics. New York: Cambridge University Press (1995).Google Scholar
[4] G. S., Agarwal, “Quantum electrodynamics in the presence of dielectrics and conductors. I. Electromagnetic-field response functions and black-body fluctuations in finite geometries,” Phys. Rev.A 11, 230–242 (1975).Google Scholar
[5] C., Henkel, K., Joulain, J.-P., Mulet, and J.-J., Greffet, “Radiation forces on small particles in thermal fields,” J. Opt. A: Pure Appl. Opt. 4, S109–S114 (2002).Google Scholar
[6] S. M., Rytov, Yu. A., Kravtsov, and V. I., Tatarskii, Principles of Statistical Radio-physics, Volume 3: Elements of Random Fields. Berlin: Springer-Verlag (1987).Google Scholar
[7] A. V., Shchegrov, K., Joulain, R., Carminati, and J.-J., Greffet, “Near-field spectral effects due to electromagnetic surface excitations,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1548–1551 (2000).Google Scholar
[8] H. T., Dung, L., Knöll, and D.-G., Welsch, “Three-dimensional quantization of the electromagnetic field in dispersive and absorbing inhomogeneous dielectrics,” Phys. Rev.A 57, 3931–3942 (1998).Google Scholar
[9] O. D., Stefano, S., Savasta, and R., Girlanda, “Three-dimensional electromagnetic field quantization in absorbing and dispersive bounded dielectrics,” Phys. Rev.A 61, 023803 (2000).Google Scholar
[10] W., Eckhardt, “First and second fluctuation–dissipation theorem in electromagnetic fluctuation theory,” Opt. Commun. 41, 305–308 (1982).Google Scholar
[11] J. P., Mulet, K., Joulain, R., Carminati, and J. J., Greffet, “Nanoscale radiative heat transfer between a small particle and a plane surface,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 2931–2933 (2001).Google Scholar
[12] E., Rousseau, A., Siria, G., Jourdan, et al., “Radiative heat transfer at the nanoscale,” Nature Photonics 3, 514–517 (2009).Google Scholar
[13] B. C., Stipe, T. C., Strand, C. C., Poon, et al., “Magnetic recording at 1.5 Pbm−2 using an integrated plasmonic antenna,” Nature Photonics 4, 484–488 (2010).Google Scholar
[14] R., Carminati and J.-J., Greffet, “Near-field effects in spatial coherence of thermal sources,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1660–1663 (1999).Google Scholar
[15] D. P., Craig and T., Thirunamachandran, Molecular Quantum Electrodynamics. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications (1998).Google Scholar
[16] H. B. G., Casimir, “On the attraction between two perfectly conducting plates,” Proc. Koninkl Ned. Akad. Wetenschap 51, 793–795 (1948).Google Scholar
[17] T. H., Boyer, “Derivation of the blackbody radiation spectrum without quantum assumptions,” Phys. Rev. 182, 1374–1383 (1969).Google Scholar
[18] V., Mkrtchian, V. A., Parsegian, R., Podgornik, and W. M., Saslow, “Universal thermal radiation drag on neutral objects,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 220801 (2003).Google Scholar
[19] J. R., Zurita-Sanchez, J.-J., Greffet, and L., Novotny, “Near-field friction due to fluctuating fields,” Phys. Rev.A 69, 022902 (2004).Google Scholar
[20] A. I., Volokitin and B. N. J., Persson, “Dissipative van der Waals interaction between a small particle and a metal surface,” Phys. Rev.B 65, 115419 (2002).Google Scholar
[21] M. S., Tomassone and A., Widom, “Electronic friction forces on molecules moving near metals,” Phys. Rev.B 56, 4938–4943 (1997).Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×