Long-distance heat transfer between molecular systems through a hybrid plasmonic-photonic nanoresonator

Abstract

We theoretically study a hybrid plasmonic-photonic cavity setup that can be used to induce and control long-distance heat transfer between molecular systems through optomechanical interactions. The structure we propose consists of two separated plasmonic nanoantennas coupled to a dielectric cavity. The hybrid modes of this resonator can combine the large optomechanical coupling of the sub-wavelength plasmonic modes with the large quality factor and delocalized character of the cavity mode that extends over a large distance (∼µm). We show that this can lead to effective long-range heat transport between molecular vibrations that can be actively controlled through an external driving laser.