The photothermal reshaping mechanism of gold nanorods, and its applications to rod alignment and optical data storage

Gold nanorods are an important class of plasmonic nano-materials, with applications in photothermal cancer treatment, solar power and optical data storage. For these applications, it is extremely important to understand their thermal stability under heating. This work provides the first insight into the details of the effect of shape and temperature on thermal stability, to reveal curvature driven surface diffusion as the main cause of reshaping, occurring 800°C below the traditional melting point. These findings were then used to demonstrate nanorod alignment, and many-layer optical data storage, and will have a significant impact on the design future of plasmonic devices.