Designing nanoparticle self-propulsion With nonequilibrium Casimir physics

Abstract

This work presents an analysis of thermal self-propulsion behavior in nanoparticles using several recent advancements in the field of nonequilibrium Casimir physics. We compute fundamental limits on the thermal power emission and thermal self-propulsion force that is attainable for particles of a given size. The limits that we obtain are valid for photon emission at a single frequency; however, they allow us to estimate the maximum total power emission and self-propulsion force that we can expect to achieve for a wide range of materials that are commonly used in nanoparticle manufacturing. We provide a detailed description of the role that particle temperature, material composition, and geometry play in generating thermal self-propulsion forces and use this information to develop a general procedure for designing efficient self-propulsion behavior using the SCUFF-EM software package [24]. Finally, we present the results of our exploratory design study amongst silicon dioxide nanoparticles and identify three candidates that exhibit strong self-propulsion.