English

Localized efficient in-vacuum loading of $\sim$0.1-10 $\mu$m spherical and plate-like particles into optical traps using a pulled glass capillary

Optics 2026-05-08 v1 Instrumentation and Detectors

Abstract

We demonstrate a compact piezoelectric-driven micropipette launcher for localized in-vacuum delivery of nano- and microparticles into optical traps. The launcher has been integrated into multiple optical trapping setups, including a single-beam trap, a non-interfering dual beam trap, and a standing-wave dual beam trap, showcasing the versatility and ease of integration of the setup. Using the micropipette launcher, we have successfully trapped silica spheres of 170 nm170\text{ nm}, 300 nm300\text{ nm}, 3 μm\mu\text{m} diameter, as well as 6 μm×\mu\text{m}\times 0.2 μm\mu\text{m} β\beta-NaYF hexagonal prisms and 100\sim 100 nm diameter high-purity nanodiamonds. We characterize the performance of the device including the peak acceleration, angular distribution of emitted particles, and the dependence on vertical displacement between the pipette tip and optical trap. Trapping efficiency as high as 93\% is achieved.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2605.05720,
  title  = {Localized efficient in-vacuum loading of $\sim$0.1-10 $\mu$m spherical and plate-like particles into optical traps using a pulled glass capillary},
  author = {Alexey Grinin and Andrew Dana and Mark Nguyen and Scott Grudichak and Katarina Boskovic Guy and Shelby Klomp and Shafaq Gulzar Elahi and Sam Borden and Zhiyuan Wang and George Winstone and Andrew A. Geraci},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2605.05720},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

7 pages, 5 figures