Ponderomotive forces in the system of two nanoparticles

Mechanical consequences of electromagnetic interaction of two nanoparticles have been modeled and simulated. It has been shown that the local field enhancement effect in the studied system causes the appearance of the local field gradients. As a consequence, the local field gradients can lead to ponderomotive forces acting on the nanoparticles near their surface. In the work, the model describing the phenomena has been developed. The model is based on the near-field interaction in the self-consistent system and the effective susceptibility concept. Using the model distribution of the local field in the system of two different-sized nanoparticles has been calculated and ponderomotive forces directions and values were simulated. It has been shown that in the system of two different-sized nanoparticles the forces act mainly on the surface of the bigger nanoparticle and for some systems, the value of its density per volume unit may acquire up to several tens of nano newtons. Possible application of the results to the study of biological systems has been also discussed.