Related papers: Optical trapping and critical Casimir forces
Some time ago, Fisher and de Gennes pointed out that long-ranged correlations in a fluid close to its critical point Tc cause distinct forces between immersed colloidal particles which can even lead to flocculation [C. R. Acad. Sc. Paris B…
Colloids immersed in a critical binary liquid mixture are subject to critical Casimir forces (CCFs) because they confine its concentration fluctuations and influence the latter via effective surface fields. To date, CCFs have only been…
We theoretically investigate the effect of optical-force-mediated interactions onto the quantum dynamics of a pair of dielectric nanospheres optically trapped in two neighboring optical tweezers. Thanks to the interference between the…
The Casimir effect arises when long-ranged fluctuations are geometrically confined between two surfaces, leading to a macroscopic force. Traditionally, these forces have been observed in quantum systems and near critical points in classical…
We study the phase behavior of colloidal suspensions the solvents of which are considered to be binary liquid mixtures undergoing phase segregation. We focus on the thermodynamic region close to the critical point of the accompanying…
Optical tweezers are powerful tools based on focused laser beams. They are able to trap, manipulate and investigate a wide range of microscopic and nanoscopic particles in different media, such as liquids, air, and vacuum. Key applications…
Percolation and critical phenomena show common features such as scaling and universality. Colloidal particles, immersed in a solvent close to criticality, experience long-range effective forces, named critical Casimir forces. %These…
Casimir-type forces, such as those between two neutral conducting plates, or between a sphere, atom or molecule and a plate have been widely studied and are becoming of increasing significance, for example, in nanotechnology. A key…
The manipulation of microscopic objects requires precise and controllable forces and torques. Recent advances have led to the use of critical Casimir forces as a powerful tool, which can be finely tuned through the temperature of the…
We consider an ensemble of spherical colloidal particles immersed in a near-critical solvent such as a binary liquid mixture close to its critical demixing point. The emerging long-ranged fluctuations of the corresponding order parameter of…
Among the various kinds of effective forces in soft matter, the spatial range and the direction of the so-called critical Casimir force - which is generated by the enhanced thermal fluctuations close to a continuous phase transition - can…
The spatial suppression of order parameter fluctuations in a critical media produces Critical Casimir forces acting on confining surfaces. This scenario is realized in a critical binary mixture near the demixing transition point that…
Colloids immersed in a critical or near-critical binary liquid mixture and close to a chemically patterned substrate are subject to normal and lateral critical Casimir forces of dominating strength. For a single colloid we calculate these…
Optical tweezers, with their high precision, dynamic control, and non-invasiveness, are increasingly important in scientific research and applications at the micro and nano scales. However, manipulation by optical tweezers is challenged by…
Optical tweezers are a technique in which microscopic-sized particles, including living cells and bacteria, can be non-intrusively trapped with high accuracy solely using focused light. The technique has therefore become a powerful tool in…
Recent experiments have measured the critical Casimir force acting on a colloid immersed in a binary liquid mixture near its continuous demixing phase transition and exposed to a chemically structured substrate. Motivated by these…
Multi-step assembly of individual protein building blocks is key to the formation of essential higher-order structures inside and outside of cells. Optical tweezers is a technique well suited to investigate the mechanics and dynamics of…
Levitated optomechanics is entering the multiparticle regime, paving the way for the use of arrays of strongly coupled massive oscillators to explore complex interacting quantum systems. Here, we demonstrate the trapping of two nanospheres…
Optical trapping describes the interaction between light and matter to manipulate micro-objects through momentum transfer. In the case of 3D trapping with a single beam, this is termed optical tweezers. Optical tweezers are a powerful and…
We propose the experimental scheme and present detailed theory of the optical chopper which functionality is based on the balance between the Casimir and light pressures. The proposed device consists of two atomically thin metallic mirrors…