Localized surface plasmon assisted microfluidic mixing

We present an optical microfluidic mixing approach via thermally induced convective flow sustained by localized surface plasmon ( LSP ) energy. The phonon energy associated with the nonradiative damping of LSP from a Au nanoparticle ( NP ) array under optical excitation creates a thermal gradient which initiates a convective fluidic flow. Experimental evidence and modeling results both show that LSP from the Au NPs is crucial in establishing a temperature gradient with sufficient magnitude to induce the convective flow with low input optical intensity. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.