Thermal radiation and near-field thermal imaging of a plasmonic Su–Schrieffer–Heeger chain

Abstract

We investigate the direct thermal emission spectrum of a plasmonic Su–Schrieffer–Heeger chain of InSb nanoparticles as well as its far-field emission due to near-field scattering by a sharp tip as it is used in scattering type thermal microscopes. We discuss the measurability of the topological phase transition in such far-field and near-field experiments and highlight the signatures of the topological edge modes. We further discuss the impact of a substrate.