Near-field radiative heat transfer (NFRHT) is a branch of radiative heat transfer which deals with situations for which the objects and/or distances separating objects are comparable or smaller in scale or to the dominant wavelength of thermal radiation exchanging thermal energy. In this regime, the assumptions of geometrical optics inherent to classical radiative heat transfer are not valid and the effects of diffraction, interference, and tunneling of electromagentic waves can dominate the net heat transfer. These "near-field effects" can result in heat transfer rates exceeding the blackbody limit of classical radiative heat transfer.
