However, due to the intrinsic low optical response of small objects, there has been a clear trade-off between the size of a material and its response to light. [5] Recently, plasmonic nanostructures have emerged as leading platforms to enhance the weak optical signals of low dimensional materials including quantum dots (QDs), [6] small molecules, [7,8] and 2D monolayers. [9] The plasmonic enhancement of linear and nonlinear optical processes capitalizes on the near-and far-field properties of metallic (e.g., gold and silver) nanostructures. [10] One of the defining features of plasmonic nanostructures is their potential to confine light into deep subwavelength volumes, which has opened a new door to trap and manipulate dielectric, metallic, and biological nano-objects. [11] Moreover, metallic nanostructures are characterized by their capability to amplify the intensity of optical fields by orders of magnitude. The enhancement of local field intensity is attributed to the resonance of plasmon polaritons arising from the coupling of external electromagnetic fields to the collective oscillations of the conduction electrons. [12] A small perturbation (or change in the refractive index) of the near field zone of plasmonic nanostructures leads to significant shift in the plasmon polariton resonance wavelength, which has important implications for surface-enhanced sensing and spectroscopic applications. [13,14] Thus, for the ad-hoc enhancement of optical Plasmonic nanocavities have proved to confine electromagnetic fields into deep subwavelength volumes, implying their potentials for enhanced optical trapping and sensing of nanoparticles. In this review, the fundamentals and performances of various plasmonic nanocavity geometries are explored with specific emphasis on trapping and detection of small molecules and single nanoparticles. These applications capitalize on the local field intensity, which in turn depends on the size of plasmonic nanocavities. Indeed, properly designed structures provide significant local field intensity and deep trapping potential, leading to manipulation of nano-objects with low laser power. The relationship between optical trappinginduced resonance shift and potential energy of plasmonic nanocavity can be analytically expressed in terms of the intercavity field intensity. Within this framework, recent experimental works on trapping and sensing of single nanoparticles and small molecules with plasmonic nanotweezers are discussed. Furthermore, significant consideration is given to conjugation of optical tweezers with Raman spectroscopy, with the aim of developing innovative biosensors. These devices, which take the advantages of plasmonic nanocavities, will be capable of trapping and detecting nanoparticles at the single molecule level.

more than a 100 years to the beginning of the twentieth century. [1] However, owing to the recent improvements in nanofabrication and characterization techniques, it was only in the last decades that plasmonics emerged as a prolific area of applied optics. Phononics is the field of condensed matter physics that studies collective vibrational modes of matter (phonons) as means to carry energy (heat) and information (vibration and sound). Beginning with atomic scale models describing the lattice dynamics, its theoretical roots go back to the foundations of the field of condensed matter physics itself before the first half of the twentieth century [2,3]. Analogously to plasmonics, the ability to fabricate structures with subm µ features is now opening possibilities for exploiting phonon propagation hence promoting a renewed interest in the phononic field. Even more importantly, the nowadays advanced micro-and nano-fabrication technology enables the actual realization of opto-thermo-mechanical nanodevices [4,5] where the interaction between photons, electrons, and phonons can be properly investigated and exploited. Starting from the seminal work of Ritchie in 1957, [6] numerous studies have been performed on systems supporting plasmonic effects, such as metallic slits or perforated metallic films together with hybrid structures formed by metal and dielectric. [7] Plasmonic nanostructures have especially attracted a lot of attention for their ability to couple with light whose Plasmonic nanostructures have attracted considerable attention for their ability to couple with light and provide strong electromagnetic energy confinement at subwavelength dimensions. The absorbed portion of the captured electromagnetic energy can lead to significant heating of both the nanostructure and its surroundings, resulting in a rich set of nanoscale thermal processes that defines the subfield of thermoplasmonics with applications ranging from nanochemistry and nanobiology to optoelectronics. Recently, phononic nanostructures have started to attract attention as a platform for manipulation of phonons, enabling control over heat propagation and/or mechanical vibrations. The complex interaction phenomena between photons, electrons, and phonons require appropriate modelling strategies to design nanodevices that simultaneously explore and exploit the optical, thermal, and mechanical degrees of freedom. Examples of such devices are micro-and nanoscale opto-thermomechanical systems for sensing, imaging, energy conversion, and harvesting applications. Here, an overview of the fundamental theory and concepts crucial to the modelling of plasmo-phonon devices is provided. Particular attention is given to micro-and nanoscale modelling frameworks, highlighting their validity ranges and the experimental works that contributed to their validation and led to compelling applications. Finally, an open-ended outlook focused on emerging applications at the intersection between plasmonics and phononics is presented.

Plasmonic structures are renowned for their capability to efficiently convert light into heat at the nanoscale. However, despite the possibility to generate deep sub‐wavelength electromagnetic hot spots, the formation of extremely localized thermal hot spots is an open challenge of research, simply because of the diffusive spread of heat along the whole metallic nanostructure. Here this challenge is tackled by exploiting single gold nanocones. It is theoretically shown how these structures can indeed realize extremely high temperature gradients within the metal, leading to deep sub‐wavelength thermal hot spots, owing to their capability of concentrating light at the apex under resonant conditions even under continuous wave illumination. A 3D finite element method model is employed to study the electromagnetic field in the structure and subsequent thermoplasmonic behavior, in terms of the 3D temperature distribution. How the latter is affected by nanocone size, shape, and composition of the surrounding environment is shown. Finally, the use of photoinduced temperature gradients in nanocones is anticipated for applications in optofluidics and thermoelectrics or for thermally induced nanofabrication.