Plasmonic nanoscale temperature shaping on a single titanium nitride nanostructure.

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Plasmonics
• Heat Transfer

Background:

• Controlling nanoscale temperature fields is crucial for nanotechnology but difficult due to heat diffusion.
• Titanium nitride (TiN) possesses low thermal conductivity, unlike conventional plasmonic metals like gold.

Purpose of the Study:

• To numerically demonstrate spatial shaping of nanoscale temperature fields.
• To investigate the use of plasmonic heating in titanium nitride nanostructures for precise temperature control.

Main Methods:

• Numerical simulations of plasmonic heating in a single titanium nitride nanostructure.
• Excitation of localized surface plasmon resonance to convert light intensity to heat via Joule heating.
• Analysis of heat dissipation and temperature field distribution based on material properties.

Main Results:

• Spatial heat power density distributions in TiN nanostructures are transcribed into temperature fields due to suppressed heat dissipation.
• Highly localized temperature distributions with nanoscale resolution (tens of nanometers) were achieved.
• Temperature fields were selectively controlled by adjusting the excitation wavelength.

Conclusions:

• Arbitrary temperature shaping at the nanometre scale is achievable by designing heat power density in TiN nanostructures.
• This technique enables novel applications in thermofluidics and thermal chemical biology.
• TiN's low thermal conductivity is key to overcoming heat diffusion limitations in plasmonic heating.