Sorting Nanoparticles with Intertwined Plasmonic and Thermo-Hydrodynamical Forces

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 13; no. 9; pp. 4230 - 4235
• Main Authors: Cuche, A, Canaguier-Durand, A, Devaux, E, Hutchison, J. A, Genet, C, Ebbesen, T. W
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 11.09.2013
• Subjects: Collective excitations (including excitons, polarons, plasmons and other charge-density excitations); Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Exact sciences and technology; Gold; Materials science; Microfluidics; Nanocrystalline materials; Nanoparticles; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanostructure; Near fields; Optics; Physics; Plasmonics; Sorting; Statistical analysis; Surface and interface electron states; Brownian motion; Optical sorting; thermo-hydrodynamical forces; metallic nanoparticles; Mie theory; plasmofluidics; Nanoparticles; Gold; Statistical analysis; Experimental data; Plasmons; Optical forces; Nanostructured materials; Microfluidics
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl401922p

We exploit plasmonic and thermo-hydrodynamical forces to sort gold nanoparticles in a microfluidic environment. In the appropriate regime, the experimental data extracted from a Brownian statistical analysis of the kinetic motions are in good agreement with Mie-type theoretical evaluations of the optical forces acting on the nanoparticles in the plasmonic near field. This analysis enables us to demonstrate the importance of thermal and hydrodynamical effects in a sorting perspective.