New horizons in enhancing and controlling local heat delivery based on thermoplasmonics (Invited Paper)

Plasmonic nanoheaters, have attracted great attention in nanomedicine, due to their ability to efficiently generate and control heat delivery at the nanoscale. There is a wide offer of nanostructures that provide with strong photothermal responses and heat delivery, however most of them deliver heat in a symmetric way or require a certain orientation with respect to the excitation source to perform adequately. Here, we will first present an overview of some novel designs, fully plasmonic or hybrid dielectric/plasmonic, capable of offering not only enhanced photothermal response but also directional heat delivery. The thermal enhancing mechanism rely on the excitation of either dipolar or anapolar modes, depending on the design [4]. In the rest of the talk, we will show some of our recent findings on the thermal performance of DNA origami-based structures, offering theoretical insights into their potential for photothermal therapy applications.