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Updated: May 13, 2026

Utilization of Plasmonic and Photonic Crystal Nanostructures for Enhanced Micro- and Nanoparticle Manipulation
Published on: September 27, 2011
The role of temperature-induced effects generated by plasmonic nanostructures on particle delivery and manipulation:
Domna G Kotsifaki1,2, Síle Nic Chormaic1
1Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-San, Okinawa, Japan.
Abstract:
Plasmonic optical tweezers that stem from the need to trap and manipulate ever smaller particles using non-invasive optical forces, have made significant contributions to precise particle motion control at the nanoscale. In addition to the optical forces, other effects have been explored for particle manipulation. For instance, the plasmonic heat delivery mechanism generates micro- and nanoscale optothermal hydrodynamic effects, such as natural fluid convection, Marangoni fluid convection and thermophoretic effects that influence the motion of a wide range of particles from dielectric to biomolecules. In this review, a discussion of optothermal effects generated by heated plasmonic nanostructures is presented with a specific focus on applications to optical trapping and particle manipulation. It provides a discussion on the existing challenges of optothermal mechanisms generated by plasmonic optical tweezers and comments on their future opportunities in life sciences.
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