Plasmon-enhanced optical trapping is being actively studied to provide efficient manipulation of nanometre-sized objects. However, a long-standing issue with previously proposed solutions is how to controllably load the trap on-demand without relying on Brownian diffusion. Here, we show that the photo-induced heating of a nanoantenna in conjunction with an applied a.c. electric field can initiate rapid microscale fluid motion and particle transport with a velocity exceeding 10 μm s(-1), which is over two orders of magnitude faster than previously predicted. Our electrothermoplasmonic device enables on-demand long-range and rapid delivery of single nano-objects to specific plasmonic nanoantennas, where they can be trapped and even locked in place. We also present a physical model that elucidates the role of both heat-induced fluidic motion and plasmonic field enhancement in the plasmon-assisted optical trapping process. Finally, by applying a d.c. field or low-frequency a.c. field (below 10 Hz) while the particle is held in the trap by the gradient force, the trapped nano-objects can be immobilized into plasmonic hotspots, thereby providing the potential for effective low-power nanomanufacturing on-chip.

Titanium nitride is considered a promising alternative plasmonic material and is known to exhibit localized surface plasmon resonances within the near-infrared biological transparency window. Here, local heating efficiencies of disk-shaped nanoparticles made of titanium nitride and gold are compared in the visible and near-infrared regions numerically and experimentally with samples fabricated using e-beam lithography. Results show that plasmonic titanium nitride nanodisks are efficient local heat sources and outperform gold nanodisks in the biological transparency window, dispensing the need for complex particle geometries.

This paper presents a systematic experimental method of studying the heat transfer behavior of buoyancy-driven nanofluids. The presence of nanoparticles in buoyancy-driven flows affects the thermophysical properties of the fluid and consequently alters the rate of heat transfer. The focus of this paper is to estimate the range of volume fractions that results in maximum thermal enhancement and the impact of volume fraction on Nusselt number. The test cell for the nanofluid is a two-dimensional rectangular enclosure with differentially heated vertical walls and adiabatic horizontal walls filled with 27 nm Al2O3–H2O nanofluid. Simulations were performed to measure the transient and steady-state thermal response of nanofluid to imposed isothermal condition. The volume fraction is varied between 0% and 8%. It is observed that the trend of the temporal and spatial evolution of temperature profile for the nanofluid mimics that of the carrier fluid. Hence, the behaviors of both fluids are similar. Results shows that for small volume fraction, 0.2⩽ϕ⩽2% the presence of the nanoparticles does not impede the free convective heat transfer, rather it augments the rate of heat transfer. However, for large volume fraction ϕ>2%, the convective heat transfer coefficient declines due to reduction in the Rayleigh number caused by increase in kinematic viscosity. Also, an empirical correlation for Nuϕ as a function of ϕ and Ra has been developed, and it is observed that the nanoparticle enhances heat transfer rate even at a small volume fraction.

Plasmonic nanostructures support strong electromagnetic field enhancement or optical "hot spots" that are accompanied by local heat generation. This heating effect is generally seen as an obstacle to stable trapping of particles on a plasmonic substrate. In this work, instead of treating the heating effect as a hindrance, we utilized the collective photoinduced heating of the nanostructure array for high-throughput trapping of particles on a plasmonic nanostructured substrate. The photoinduced heating of the nanostructures is combined with an ac electric field of less than 100 kHz, which results in creation of a strong electrothermal microfluidic flow. This flow rapidly transports suspended particles toward the plasmonic substrate, where they are captured by local electric field effects. This work is envisioned to have application in biosensing and surface-enhanced spectroscopies such as SERS.

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The intrinsic loss in a plasmonic metasurface is usually considered to be detrimental for device applications. Using plasmonic loss to our advantage, we introduce a thermoplasmonic metasurface that enables high-throughput large-ensemble nanoparticle assembly in a lab-on-a-chip platform. In our work, an array of subwavelength nanoholes in a metal film is used as a plasmonic metasurface that supports the excitation of localized surface plasmon and Bloch surface plasmon polariton waves upon optical illumination and provides a platform for molding both optical and thermal landscapes to achieve a tunable many-particle assembling process. The demonstrated many-particle trapping occurs against gravity in an inverted configuration where the light beam first passes through the nanoparticle suspension before illuminating the thermoplasmonic metasurface, a feat previously thought to be impossible. We also report an extraordinarily enhanced electrothermoplasmonic flow in the region of the thermoplasmonic nanohole metasurface, with comparatively larger transport velocities in comparison to the unpatterned region. This thermoplasmonic metasurface could enable possibilities for myriad applications in molecular analysis, quantum photonics, and self-assembly and creates a versatile platform for exploring nonequilibrium physics.

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