Remote plasmon-induced heat transfer probed by the electronic transport of a gold nanowire

We show in this paper that the heat generated by the optical excitation of resonant plasmonic antennas and diffusing along a simple glass/air interface disturbs the electron transport of a nearby conductive element. By probing the temperature-dependent resistance of a gold nanowire R-nw(T), we quantitatively analyze the impact of a resonant absorption of the laser by the antennas. We find that the temperature rise at the nanowire induced by the laser absorption of a distant nanoparticle may exceed that of a direct illumination of the nanowire itself. We also find that a global calibration of the temperature-dependent resistance underestimates the heat generated locally by the laser. The local temperatures deduced from resistance variations are verified by numerical simulations with a very satisfactory agreement.