Related papers: Enhanced optical trapping via structured scatterin…
Optical micro-manipulation and trapping of micro-particles delivers a mechanical system in direct interaction with a beam of light. In this interaction, the optical properties such as polarisation, beam profile and wavelength of the…
Optical trapping enables precise control of individual particles of different sizes, such as atoms, molecules, or nanospheres. Optical tweezers provide free-space omnidirectional optical trapping of objects in laboratories around the world.…
We have successfully demonstrated an integrated optical system for collecting the fluorescence from a trapped ion. The system, consisting of an array of transmissive, dielectric micro-optics and an optical fiber array, has been intimately…
Conical refraction occurs when a beam of light travels through an appropriately cut biaxial crystal. By focussing the conically refracted beam through a high numerical aperture microscope objective, conical refraction optical tweezers can…
Optical trapping can be used to manipulate the three-dimensional (3-D) motion of spherical particles based on the simple prediction of optical forces and the responding motion of samples. However, controlling the 3-D behaviour of…
We describe an atom trapping mechanism based upon differential optical pumping between metastable hyperfine states by partially-displaced laser beams in the absence of a magnetic field. With realistic laser powers, trap spring constants…
Optical trapping, also known as optical tweezing or optical levitation, is a technique that uses highly focused laser beams to manipulate micro- and nanoscopic particles. In optical traps driven by high-energy pulses, material non-linearity…
We report on trapping of fermionic 40K atoms in a red-detuned standing-wave optical trap, loaded from a magneto-optical trap. Typically, 10^6 atoms are loaded at a density of 10^12 cm^-3 and a temperature of 65 microK, and trapped for more…
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.…
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…
Interlaced Spin Grating is a scheme for the preparation of spectro-spatial periodic absorption gratings in a inhomogeneously broadened absorption profile. It relies on the optical pumping of atoms in a nearby long-lived ground state…
Trapped, laser-cooled ions produce intense fluorescence. Detecting this fluorescence enables efficient measurement of quantum state of qubits based on trapped atoms. It is desirable to collect a large fraction of the photons to make the…
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…
Trapping and manipulation of particles using laser beams has become an important tool in diverse fields of research. In recent years, particular interest is given to the problem of conveying optically trapped particles over extended…
Interferometric measurements with matter waves are established techniques for sensitive gravimetry, rotation sensing, and measurement of surface interactions, but compact interferometers will require techniques based on trapped geometries.…
We provide a detailed study of the interplay between the different interactions which appear in the Brownian motion of a micronsized sphere immersed in a viscoelastic fluid measured with optical trapping interferometry. To explore a wide…
When subjected to monochromatic incident light a nanoparticle will emit light which then interferes with the incident beam. With sufficient contrast and sufficiently close to the particle this interference pattern may be recorded with a…
We investigate gain-assisted optical forces on dye-enriched silver nanoshell in the quasi-static limit by means of a theoretical/numerical approach. We demonstrate the onset of nonlinear optical trapping of these resonant nanostructures in…
Optical trapping and binding systems are non-Hermitian. On one hand, the optical force is non-Hermitian and may pump energy into the trapped particle when the non-Hermiticity is sufficiently large. On the other hand, the ambient damping…
Interferometry provides highly sensitive access to optical phase and is central to much of modern metrology and phase imaging methods. Conventional implementations, however, often face trade-offs between mechanical stability and…