Magneto-thermoplasmonics: from theory to applications

Abstract

We review recent theoretical developments on the nanoscale radiative heat transfer in magneto-optical many-particle systems. We discuss in detail the circular heat flux, the giant magneto-resistance effect, the persistent heat current, and the thermal Hall effect for light in such systems within the framework of fluctuational electrodynamics, using the dipolar approximation. We show that the directionality of heat flux in such systems can in principle be understood by analyzing the competing contributions to the heat exchange of the magnetic-field-dependent dipolar resonances of quantum numbers m = +1 and m = -1. Some potential applications of these effects to thermal and magnetic sensing are also briefly discussed.