Fig. 1. Application of plasmonic thermal effect in the structural optimization of nanomaterials

Fig. 2. Generation mechanism of hot carriers and energy band structure of noble metals. (a) Excitation and relaxation processes of LSPR in metal nanostructures^[28]; (b) schematic diagram of plasmon-induced hot carriers in noble metals^[29]; (c) simplified schematic diagram of interband and intraband transitions of gold^[40]; (d) imaginary part of dielectric function of gold and Drude fitting in the long wavelength limit^[40]; (e) total absorption and the absorption corresponding to interband and intraband transitions of gold spheres, gold ellipsoids, and columnar gold nanostructures calculated based on the local dielectric function, and the insets show the change of the ratio of intraband absorption to total absorption of gold ellipsoids with the aspect ratio a/b^[40]; (f) schematic diagram of light-driven spherical nanoparticles^[42]

Fig. 3. Influence of material properties on plasmonic thermal effect. (a) Total heat production rate of gold, silver, CdTe, and CdSe in aqueous solution^[42]; (b) schematic diagram of the evolution of electron and lattice temperatures of transition metal nitride HfN and gold under 50 fs pulsed light excitation^[47]

Fig. 4. Influence of nanoparticle size on plasmonic thermal effect. (a) Temperature increases on the surface of gold nanoparticles at different sizes^[42]; (b)(c) inherent damping mechanism exhibits size-dependent changing characteristics^[19] [(b) for smaller size nanoparticles, absorption induced non-radiative damping dominates; (c) for larger size nanoparticles, scattering induced radiative damping dominates]; (d) thermal power of silver nanorings at different sizes^[48]

Fig. 5. Influence of nanoparticle shape on plasmonic thermal effect. (a) Variation of heating power with wavelength (left) and three-dimensional mapping of calculated thermal power density at their respective plasmonic resonance wavelengths (right) when four different gold nanoparticles under the same volume are irradiated by a plane wave^[49]; (b) absorption spectra and electric field of Au nanostars changed with the increase of peak length while keeping the volume of Au nanostar constant^[51]

Fig. 6. Influence of nanoparticle density on plasmonic thermal effect. (a) Temperature increase at the center of a square array consisting of 16 nanoparticles (4×4 array) on the polymer‒water boundary, and the inset shows model of gold nanoparticle composite^[42]; (b) schematic of the dimer and corresponding temperature field^[52]

Fig. 7. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated growth of metal nanomaterials. (a)‒(c) Schematic diagrams of the growth of plasmon-driven silver nanospheres transforming into triangular nanoprisms and corresponding SEM images^[53-55]; (d) plasmon-induced growth of hexagonally symmetric silver nanoparticle arrays and trigonally symmetric silver nanoparticle arrays of gold nanobowl arrays^[56]; (e) plasmon combined with biocatalysts driving the growth of gold nanomaterials^[57]; (f) plasmon-induced growth of copper nanostructures^[58]

Fig. 8. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated reshaping of metal nanomaterials. (a) Sketches and SEM images of plasmon-driven morphological changes of gold nanorods^[59]; (b) scattering spectra of gold nanoparticles before and after melting under focused laser beam irradiation (left) and a simple model of laser-induced elongation of gold nanoparticles (right)^[60]; (c) SEM images and schematics of plasmon-induced morphological changes of gold nanospheres^[61]; (d) SEM images of gold nanorods reshaped by femtosecond laser pulse irradiation (left) and optical density spectra of irradiated and unirradiated colloids at different surfactant concentrations (right)^[62]; (e) schematic diagrams and SEM images of plasmon-regulated bending of gold nanorods into V-shapes^[63]

Fig. 9. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated self-assembly of metal nanomaterials. (a) Schematic of femtosecond laser irradiation inducing plasmon to connect gold nanoparticle chains into lines^[64]; (b) plasmon-induced assembly and welding of gold nanorods^[65]; (c) plasmon-regulated gap distances between gold nanoparticles^[66]; (d) plasmon-induced migration and assembly of gold nanotriangles^[67]; (e) gold nanoparticles embedded in ZnO and formation of ZnO submicron spheres after 10 and 50 times of pulsed laser irradiation^[68]; (f) schematic diagram of oxide encapsulation layer under ultrafast laser irradiation^[69]

Fig. 10. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated growth of dielectric nanomaterials. (a) Schematic diagram and SEM image of plasmon-induced growth of polymers on SiO₂/Si wafers by gold nanoparticles^[70]; (b) SEM images before and after plasmon-induced growth of polymer polypyrrole within the nanogap of bowtie microelectrodes^[71]; (c) SEM image and structural temperature distribution of plasmon-induced growth of ZnO on gold nano-butterfly antennas^[72]; (d) deposition of PbO and TiO₂^[73]; (e) growth of semiconductor nanowires and carbon nanotubes^[74]

Fig. 11. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated deformation of dielectric nanomaterials. (a) Schematic diagram of optical force of plasmon-induced thermal decomposition of polystyrene layer^[75]; (b) schematic diagram of bending mechanism of LCE-AuNR under light irradiation^[76]; (c) plasmon-induced melting of double-stranded DNA^[77]; (d) schematic diagrams of a multilayer film composed of nanospheres and nanorods (left) and the photothermal reaction of the structure at two different wavelengths (right)^[78]; (e) plasmon-induced isomerization of azobenzene and its derivatives^[79]

Fig. 12. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated phase transition of dielectric nanomaterials. (a) Plasmon-induced phase transition of VO₂, and the system is modulated by temperature, hydrogen doping concentration, and electron doping concentration^[80]; (b) schematic diagram of intelligent thermal management textiles^[81]; (c) schematic diagram of novel composite structure constructed by ITO-NRAs and VO₂ to achieve full optical conversion from the visible to the mid-infrared spectral range^[82]; (d) transmission electron microscope image of photoexcitation system with Au nanodisk arrays and palladium nanocubes on the Si₃N₄ film (top) and schematic diagram of β to α phase transition reaction (bottom)^[83]; (e) schematic diagram of Au-PdH_x cross-bar nanostructure (top) and schematic diagram of β to α phase transition reaction in energy space (bottom)^[84]; (f) schematic diagram of temperature monitoring based on plasmon-induced polymer phase transition (top) and multiple switching processes in polymer phase transition regulated by excitation power (bottom)^[85]

Fig. 13. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated structures of rare-earth ion-doped micro/nanocrystalline. (a) Schematic diagram of plasmon-driven rapid in-situ crystal transformation; (b) extinction spectra of the sample^[91]; (c) luminescence spectra of NaYF₄∶Eu³⁺ nanoflowers, NaYF₄∶Eu³⁺@Au, and transformed Y₂O₃∶Eu³⁺ nanoparticles, and the inset shows the in-situ luminescence imaging of a single NaYF₄∶Eu³⁺@Au nanoflower and its transformed Y₂O₃∶Eu³⁺ nanoparticle^[91]; (d) cross-sectional diagram of heat-trapping structure^[92]; (e) schematic diagram of plasmon-assisted heat treatment and in-situ real-time non-destructive monitoring of crystal structures^[94]; (f) luminescence spectra and TEM images of NaYF₄∶Eu³⁺@SiO₂@Au composite structure with a 15 nm SiO₂ shell thickness before and after plasmon-regulated transformation, and the transformed crystal is Y₂SiO₅∶Eu³⁺-Au^[95]

Fig. 14. Plasmonic thermal-effect-regulated luminescence of rare-earth ion-doped micro/nanocrystalline. (a) Schematic illustration of luminescence regulation in rare-earth-doped micro/nanocrystals via plasmonic thermal effect^[97]; (b) schematic illustration of plasmonic thermal effect regulation of luminescence characteristics and temperature monitoring in rare-earth-doped micro/nanocrystalline^[98]; (c) plasmon-assisted write and read operations, when the power of the excitation light (P_r) is less than or strictly close to the writing power (P_w), the particles will exhibit an effective luminescent state or a quenched state^[25]