Gold nanocrescents for remotely measuring and controlling local temperature

We present a novel technique to remotely measure and control the local temperature within a medium. This technique is based on the observation of the rotational Brownian motion of gold nanocrescent particles, which possess a strong anisotropic light interaction due to their plasmonic properties. Rotational scattering correlation spectroscopy performed on a single nanoparticle is able to determine the local temperature with high accuracy. These nano-thermometers can simultaneously play the role of nano-heaters when absorbing the light of a focused laser beam.