Abstract
Light-assisted micronanoscale temperature control in a complex nanoparticle network has attracted a lot of research interest. Many efforts have been put into the optical properties of nanoparticle networks, and only a few investigations have reported its light-induced thermal behavior. We consider a two-dimensional (2D) square-lattice nanoparticle ensemble made of typical metal Ag with a radius of 5 nm. The effect of complex multiple scattering and thermal accumulation on light-induced thermal behavior in plasmonic resonance frequency (around 383 nm) is analyzed through the Green's function approach. The regime borders of both multiple scattering and thermal accumulation effects on the photothermal behavior of the 2D square-lattice nanoparticle ensemble are figured out clearly and quantitatively. The dimensionless parameter φ is defined as the ratio of a full temperature increase to that without considering the multiple scattering or thermal accumulation to quantify the multiple scattering and thermal accumulation effects on photothermal behavior. The more compact the nanoparticle ensemble is, the stronger the multiple scattering effect on thermal behavior is. When the lattice spacing increases to dozens times of the radius, the multiple scattering becomes insignificant. When φ≈1 (lattice spacing increases to hundreds times of the radius), the thermal accumulation effects are weak and can be neglected safely. The polarization-dependent distribution of the temperature increase of nanoparticles is observed only in the compact nanoparticle ensemble, while for a dilute ensemble, such a polarization-dependent temperature increase distribution can no longer be observed. This work may help with the understanding of the light-induced thermal transport in the 2D particle ensemble.