Related papers: Optical trapping below the diffraction limit with …
Superconducting atom chips have very significant advantages in realizing trapping structures for ultracold atoms compared to conventional atom chips. We extend these advantages further by developing the ability to dynamically tailor the…
A magneto-optical trap of cesium atoms was generated by applying a circularly polarized cooling laser beam onto a reflective two-dimensional diffraction grating with an aperture and by retroreflecting the incident beam passing through the…
We present a laser beam shaping method using acousto-optic deflection of light and discuss its application to dipole trapping of ultracold atoms. By driving the acousto-optic deflector with multiple frequencies, we generate an array of…
All light has structure, but only recently it has become possible to construct highly controllable and precise potentials so that most laboratories can harness light for their specific applications. In this chapter, we review the emerging…
Optical trapping is an indispensable tool in physics and the life sciences. However, there is a clear trade off between the size of a particle to be trapped, its spatial confinement, and the intensities required. This is due to the decrease…
The use of a wire mesh facilitates creation of multiple optical traps for manipulation of small micron or sub-micron particles. Such an array of optical traps can be easily controlled. The trap that is formed in this manner is a continuous…
Holographic optical tweezers use computer-generated holograms to create arbitrary three-dimensional configurations of single-beam optical traps useful for capturing, moving and transforming mesoscopic objects. Through a combination of…
A new trap for atoms and small particles based on the interaction between an atom and the field of counter-propagating light pulses that are partially superposed in time has been proposed. A substantial difference from the known analogs…
Holographic optical traps use the forces exerted by computer-generated holograms to trap, move and otherwise transform mesoscopically textured materials. This article introduces methods for optimizing holographic optical traps' efficiency…
Optical bottle beams can be used to trap atoms and small low-index particles. We introduce a figure of merit for optical bottle beams, specifically in the context of optical traps, and use it to compare optical bottle-beam traps obtained by…
We show that it is possible to construct spectrally lower bound limited functions which can oscillate locally at an arbitrarily low frequency. Such sub-oscillatory functions are complementary to super-oscillatory functions which are…
Standard optical tweezers rely on optical forces that arise when a focused laser beam interacts with a microscopic particle: scattering forces, which push the particle along the beam direction, and gradient forces, which attract it towards…
Optically levitated dielectric nanoparticles have become valuable tools for precision sensing and quantum optomechanical experiments. To predict the dynamic properties of a particle trapped in an optical tweezer with high fidelity, a tool…
We illustrate the possibility of light trapping and funneling in periodic arrays of metallic nanoparticles. A controllable minimum in the transmission spectra of such constructs arises from a collective plasmon resonance phenomenon, where…
The possibility of focusing light to an ever tighter spot has important implications for many applications and fields of optics research, such as nano-optics and plasmonics, laser-scanning microscopy, optical data storage and many more. The…
The optical properties of a fixed atom are well-known and investigated. For example, the extraordinarily large cross section of a single atom as seen by a resonant photon is essential for quantum optical applications. Mechanical effects…
The successful development and optimisation of optically-driven micromachines will be greatly enhanced by the ability to computationally model the optical forces and torques applied to such devices. In principle, this can be done by…
A nanofiber-based optical tweezer is demonstrated. Trapping is achieved by combining attractive near-field optical gradient forces with repulsive electrostatic forces. Silica-coated Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanospheres of 300 diameter are trapped as…
Light trapping in solar cells allows for increased current and voltage, as well as reduced materials cost. It is known that in geometrical optics, a maximum 4n^2 absorption enhancement factor can be achieved by randomly texturing the…
The optical absorption of nanoscale thickness semiconductor films on top of light-trapping structures based on optical interference effects combined with spectrum-splitting structures is theoretically investigated. Nearly perfect absorption…