Related papers: Negative optical torque on a microsphere in optica…

Tightly focused optical dipole traps induce vector light shifts ("fictitious magnetic fields") which complicate their use for single-atom trapping and manipulation. The problem can be mitigated by adding a larger, real magnetic field, but…

The edge diffraction of a homogeneously polarized light beam is studied theoretically based on the paraxial optics and Fresnel-Kirchhoff approximation, and the dependence of the diffracted beam pattern of the incident beam polarization is…

Optically levitated nanoparticles in vacuum provide a highly sensitive platform for probing weak light-matter interactions. In this work, we present an interference-based method to amplify the optical force exerted by a weak field on a…

Optical tweezers, formed by tightly focused propagating laser beams, offer the unique capability to trap and control microscopic particles over a broad size range. However, the diffraction inherent to propagating optical fields, limits the…

The optical trapping of polymeric nanofibers and the characterization of the rotational dynamics are reported. A strategy to apply a torque to a polymer nanofiber, by tilting the trapped fibers using a symmetrical linear polarized Gaussian…

For several decades optical tweezers have proven to be an invaluable tool in the study and analysis of a myriad biological responses and applications. However, as every tool, it can have undesirable or damaging effects upon the very sample…

Manifestations of orbital angular momentum induced effects in the diffraction of a radially polarized vector beam by an off-axis tilted aperture are studied both experimentally and theoretically. Experiments were carried out to extract the…

Tightly focused light beams can exhibit electric fields spinning around any axis including the one transverse to the beams' propagation direction. At certain focal positions, the corresponding local polarization ellipse can degenerate into…

We propose a novel way to trap and manipulate nano-objects above a dielectric substrate using an apertureless near-field probe. A combination of evanescent illumination and light scattering at the probe apex is used to shape the optical…

Spatial distribution of the longitudinal field component of a circularly polarized optical beam depends on the polarization handedness, which causes the lateral shift of the beam "center of gravity" when its polarization toggles. We present…

We demonstrate photophoretic force-based optical trapping of multiple absorbing particles in air by loosely focusing a Gaussian beam with a series of convex lenses of different focal lengths, and investigate the dependence of the number of…

The transverse component of the spin angular momentum of evanescent waves gives rise to lateral optical forces on chiral particles, which have the unusual property of acting in a direction in which there is neither a field gradient nor wave…

Acoustic meta-atoms serve as the building blocks of metamaterials, with linear properties designed to achieve functions such as beam steering, cloaking and focusing. They have also been used to shape the characteristics of incident acoustic…

Optical trapping is having ever-increasing impact in science $-$ particularly biophysics, photonics and most recently in quantum optomechanics $-$ owing to its superior capability for manipulating nanoscale structures and materials.…

We study the angular deflection of the circular polarized components of a linearly polarized probe field in a weakly birefringent atomic system in tripod configuration. A spatially inhomogeneous control field incident obliquely onto an…

Optical tweezers are an invaluable tool for non-contact trapping and micro-manipulation, but their ability to facilitate high-throughput volumetric microrheology of biological samples for mechanobiology research is limited by the precise…

Observing and taming unusual effects arising from non-trivial light-matter interaction has always triggered scientists to better understand Nature and develop technological tools towards implementing novel applications. Recently, several…

We investigate points of circular polarization in the far field of elliptically polarized dipoles and establish a relation between the angular position and helicity of these C points and the dipole moment. In the case of highly eccentric…

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel optical method for trapping and cooling dielectric nanospheres at (sub)-micron distances from a reflective metallic surface. By translating a tilted mirror towards the focus of a single-beam…

We simulate the transport of colloidal particles driven by a static and homogeneous drift force, and subject to the optical potential created by two lattices of optical tweezers. The lattices of optical tweezers are parallel to each other,…