Related papers: Optical forces, helicity, angular momentum and how…
We demonstrate a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) configuration which employs optical forces due to light scattering between electronically excited states of the atom. With the standard MOT laser beams propagating along the {\it x}- and {\it y}-…
We provide a vivid demonstration of the mechanical effect of transverse spin momentum in an optical beam in free space. This component of the Poynting momentum was previously thought to be virtual, and unmeasurable. Here, its effect is…
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…
We study the effects of the spin orbit interaction (SOI) of light in an optical trap and show that the propagation of the tightly focused trapping beam in a stratified medium can lead to significantly enhanced SOI. For a plane polarized…
Nanostructured dielectric metasurfaces offer unprecedented opportunities to control light-matter momentum exchange, and thereby the forces and torques that light can exert on matter. Here we introduce optical metasurfaces as components of…
We present an experimental demonstration of a Laguerre-Gauss (LG) spectrum measurement technique using variable focus lenses that is able to measure the strengths of all modes present in an unknown, incoming light beam with the highest…
A scheme for fast, compact, and controllable acceleration of heavy particles in vacuum is proposed, in which two counterpropagating lasers with variable frequencies drive a beat-wave structure with variable phase velocity, thus allowing for…
Light can exert radiation pressure on any object it encounters and that resulting optical force can be used to manipulate particles. It is commonly assumed that light should move a particle forward and indeed an incident plane wave with a…
As a first approximation, the forces acting on optically trapped particles are commonly assumed to be conservative. The influence of the nonconservative force has been shown to be negligible in overdamped liquid environments. However, its…
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…
We observe clear precessional motion of highly birefringent liquid crystal (LC) particles trapped in a spherically aberrated optical trap which is built around a tilted refractive index stratified medium. For input circularly polarized…
The optical trapping techniques have been extensively used in physics, biophysics, micro-chemistry, and micro-mechanics to allow trapping and manipulation of materials ranging from particles, cells, biological substances, and polymers to…
Oscillatory dynamics is a key tool in optical tweezers applications. It is usually implemented by mechanical interventions that cannot be optically controlled. In this work we show that Germanium semiconductor beads behave as optically…
We demonstrate a bistable optical trap by tightly focusing a vortex laser beam. The optical potential has the form of a Mexican hat with an additional minimum at the center. The bistable trapping corresponds to a non-equilibrium steady…
Levitated optomechanics, a rapidly expanding field that employs light to monitor and manipulate the mechanical motion of levitated objects, is increasingly relevant across physics, engineering, and other fields. This technique, which…
The optical force density acting in transparent dielectric media due to short laser excitation is theoretically analyzed. For typical laser pulses with picosecond duration, the momentum component of the optical force becomes of the same…
Optomechanical systems are suitable for elucidating quantum phenomena at the macroscopic scale in the sense of the mass scale. The systems should be well-isolated from the environment to avoid classical noises, which conceal quantum…
We analyze numerically the correspondence between the mechanical action, experienced by a spherical microparticle, and the internal energy flows as well as spatial and polarization inhomogeneity of the light field incident on the particle.…
Precise spatial manipulation of particles via optical forces is essential in many research areas, ranging from biophysics to atomic physics. Central to this effort is the challenge of designing optical systems that are optimized for…
The recoil optical force that acts on emitters near a surface or waveguide relies on near-field directionality and conservation of momentum. It features desirable properties uncommon in optical forces, such as the ability to produce it via…