Thermal Radiation Force and Torque on Moving Nanostructures with Anisotropic Optical Response

TL;DR

This paper investigates how moving nanostructures with anisotropic optical properties experience additional lateral forces and torques in a thermal radiation environment, affecting their motion and trajectory.

Contribution

It reveals the emergence of lateral forces and torques on anisotropic nanostructures due to their interaction with thermal radiation, a phenomenon not previously characterized.

Findings

Anisotropic nanostructures experience lateral forces in thermal radiation.

Moving nanostructures develop torques affecting their orientation.

The electromagnetic coupling depends on polarization components.

Abstract

Nanoscale objects moving relative to a thermal radiation bath experience a drag force due to the imbalance in their interaction with the blue- and redshifted components of the electromagnetic field. Here, we show that, in addition to this drag force, moving nanostructures with an anisotropic optical response experience a lateral force and a torque that substantially modify their trajectory. These phenomena emerge from the additional coupling between the electromagnetic field components polarized parallel and perpendicular to the trajectory, enabled by the anisotropic response of the nanostructure. This work unveils the intricate dynamics of anisotropic nanostructures moving in a thermal radiation bath.