Radiative heat transfer between nanoparticles enhanced by intermediate particle

Radiative heat transfer between two polar nanostructures at different temperatures can be enhanced by resonant tunneling of surface polaritons. Here we show that the heat transfer between two nanoparticles is strongly varied by the interactions with a third nanoparticle. By controlling the size of the third particle, the time scale of thermalization toward the thermal bath temperature can be modified over 5 orders of magnitude. This effect provides control of temperature distribution in nanoparticle aggregation and facilitates thermal management at nanoscale.