Plasmonic nanostructures have become one of the most developed fundamental areas of nanophotonics, as they are capable of localizing the electromagnetic field at the nanoscale and enhancing the interaction of light with nanoscale objects. Plasmonics is of particular interest as a material for nanopores, where the excitation of localized surface plasmonic modes leads to the formation of plasmonic hot-spots near the aperture of the structure. These systems have been actively used for fluorescence enhancement, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, nanopore sequencing, and single-molecule sensing.

In parallel, investigation of two- and three-dimensional conical nanopores for nanofluidics and ion transport was provided. It was shown that the geometry of the nanopore and the surface charge of the walls significantly affect the ionic current rectification, the distribution of ion concentrations, and the transport characteristics of the system. Conical nanopore architectures allowed for more efficient control of the electric field distribution and the localization of electromagnetic modes compared to planar structures.

At the same time, the big interest was devoted to plasmonic trapping or plasmonic tweezers and was actively developing. The use of localized near-field allowed for the retention of nanoparticles due to high gradients of the electromagnetic field. Compared to classical optical tweezers, plasmonic traps provided a more compact architecture and the ability to trap objects of significantly smaller size.

However, it is also knwon that pure plasmonic trapping systems had several fundamental limitations. The main issue is plasmonic heating, which occurs due to the absorption of radiation by metallic structures. This localized heating leads to temperature gradients, thermophoretic transport, and changes in the viscosity of the medium, which could destabilize the trapping regime, especially for small nanoparticles.

In parallel, the field of magneto-plasmonics was developing, based on the combination of magnetic and plasmonic properties within a single nanostructure. Core–shell nanoparticles, which combine a magnetic core and a plasmonic shell, have been widely studied. These structures have been primarily considered for biomedical applications, local heating, magnetic transport, and biosensing.

Despite the active development of plasmonic nanopores and magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles, there are almost no comprehensive studies of magneto-plasmonic trapping within two and three-dimensional nanopore systems. Most existing models have focused on either calculating the electromagnetic field or analyzing particle dynamics without fully considering the interplay between electromagnetic, magnetic, and thermal processes.

At the moment, research on plasmonic and magneto-plasmonic nanopore systems has made significant progress in the direction of fully coupled multiphysics simulations, which include the calculation of electromagnetic field enhancement, local heating, thermophoretic transport, and trajectories of nanoparticles. During the project, it was shown that combining magnetic and optical control can significantly improve the efficiency of trapping compared to purely optical systems. The magnetic field provides long-range transport of particles to the nanopore region, while the localized plasmonic field is responsible for the final retention of the particle in the hot-spot region.

From another side, it has become clear that photo-thermal effects play a critical role in plasmonic nanopore systems. It has been established that increasing the laser power simultaneously enhances optical trapping and plasmonic heating, creating a competition between trapping forces and thermophoretic transport. Despite the development of computational models, the stability of magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles within plasmonic nanopores remains an understudied area.

In this regard, the present work was aimed at a comprehensive study of magneto-plasmonic trapping of core–shell nanoparticles inside a magneto-plasmonic nanopore, taking into account both electromagnetic, magnetic, thermal, and transport processes.

Unlike most existing studies, this work considers not only the distribution of electromagnetic field enhancement, but also the subsequent dynamics of nanoparticles under the influence of optical force, magnetophoretic force, viscous drag, and thermophoretic transport. The trajectories of nanoparticles were simulated for various particle sizes and a wide range of laser powers, allowing for the investigation of the transition from stable trapping to thermally induced destabilization.

Special attention is paid to the influence of the size of core–shell nanoparticles on trapping stability and the competition between conservative trapping and thermal effects. The results obtained show the critical role of photo-thermal effects in magneto-plasmonic nanopore systems and demonstrate the need for a comprehensive consideration of electromagnetic, magnetic, and thermal processes when analyzing trapping dynamics in plasmonic nanostructures.