title: Characterization of the near-field and convectional transport behavior of micro and nanoparticles in nanoscale plasmonic optical lattices.
abstract: Here, we report the characterization of the transport of micro- and nanospheres in a simple two-dimensional square nanoscale plasmonic optical lattice. The optical potential was created by exciting plasmon resonance by way of illuminating an array of gold nanodiscs with a loosely focused Gaussian beam. This optical potential produced both in-lattice particle transport behavior, which was due to near-field optical gradient forces, and high-velocity (∼μm/s) out-of-lattice particle transport. As a comparison, the natural convection velocity field from a delocalized temperature profile produced by the photothermal heating of the nanoplasmonic array was computed in numerical simulations. This work elucidates the role of photothermal effects on micro- and nanoparticle transport in plasmonic optical lattices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University , Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Tsang-Po
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Micro- and Nano-Fluidics Lab, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology , Technion City 32000, Israel.
authors.forename: Gilad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yossifon
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University , Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ya-Tang
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Yang