The investigation of heat generation in plasmonic structures

• Main Author: Thi Thu Ha, Do
• Other Authors: Xiong Qi Hua
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Science::Physics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/63449
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Thermoplasmonics refers to the investigation of heat generation and distribution of various plasmonic structures irradiated by electromagnetic fields. Because of the Joule heating and significant field enhancement, thermal hot spots can be generated at optical resonant conditions leading to the dramatic increase of local temperature. In this study, four-probe electrical measurement is conducted to characterize the thermal response of several designs containing Platinum rod-shaped antenna and Platinum temperature sensor excited by 532-nm laser source. Using the power of 15 mW, the 4-µm antenna raises the temperature by 21.2 K and 13.4 K in orthogonal and parallel orientation to the sensor respectively. On the other hand, when the length is decreased to 2 µm, the orthogonally aligned antenna leads to 25.9 K rise in temperature using the same excitation conditions. The morphology dependence of temperature enhancement indicates the involvement of plasmonic behaviors in the thermal responses of metal structures. Furthermore, FDTD simulations on the optical response of the antenna provide additional evidences for the important role of the plasmonic resonance on the heating efficiency. The achieved results reveal the great applicability of Pt rod-shaped antenna as an efficient and versatile source of heat.