Related papers: Localized efficient in-vacuum loading of $\sim$0.1…
We describe the design, construction, and operation of an apparatus utilizing a piezoelectric transducer for in-vacuum loading of nanoparticles into an optical trap for use in levitated optomechanics experiments. In contrast to commonly…
Nanoparticles levitated by optical fields under vacuum conditions have applications in quantum science, the study of nanothermodynamics and precision sensing. Existing techniques for loading optical traps require ambient conditions, and…
The rapid loading and manipulation of microspheres in optical trap is important for its applications in optomechanics and precision force sensing. We investigate the microsphere behavior under coaction of a dual-beam fiber-optic trap and a…
Optical trapping has proven to be a valuable experimental technique for precisely controlling small dielectric objects. However, due to their very nature, conventional optical traps are diffraction limited and require high intensities to…
We present a simple and effective method of loading particles into an optical trap in air at atmospheric pressure. Material which is highly absorptive at the trapping laser wavelength, such as tartrazine dye, is used as media to attach…
We present an optical nanotrapping setup that exhibits enhanced efficiency, based on localized plasmonic fields around sharp metallic features. The substrates consist of laser-structured silicon wafers with quasi-ordered microspikes on the…
We report a novel technique for launching broadband laser light into liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF). It uniquely offers self-alignment and self-stabilization via optomechanical trapping of a fused silica…
Clean loading of silica nanoparticles with a radius as small as ~50 nm is required for experiments in levitated optomechanics that operate in ultra-high vacuum. We present a cheap and simple experimental method for dry launching of silica…
Optical dipole-traps are used in various scientific fields, including classical optics, quantum optics and biophysics. Here, we propose and implement a dipole-trap for nanoparticles that is based on focusing from the full solid angle with a…
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…
The manipulation of microparticles using optical forces has led to many applications in the life and physical sciences. To extend optical trapping towards the nano-regime, in this work we demonstrate trapping of single nanoparticles in…
With the aim to parallelize and monitor biological or biochemical phenomena, trapping and immobilization of objects such as particles, droplets or cells in microfluidic devices has been an intense area of research and engineering so far.…
While conventional optical trapping techniques can trap objects with submicron dimensions, the underlying limits imposed by the diffraction of light generally restrict their use to larger or higher refractive index particles. As the index…
Optically trapped Silica nanoparticles are a promising tool for precise sensing of gravitational or inertial forces and fundamental physics, including tests of quantum mechanics at 'large' mass scales. This field, called levitated…
Laser trapping near the surface of a nanostructured substrate is demonstrated. Stable microbubbles with radii of 1-20micrometers have been created and manipulated with sub-micron precision by a focused laser beam in an immersion oil…
We propose a new class of nanoscale electro-optical traps for neutral atoms. A prototype is the toroidal trap created by a suspended, charged carbon nanotube decorated with a silver nanosphere dimer. An illuminating laser field, blue…
Accurate detection and characterization of nanoparticles within confined spaces is crucial for applications ranging from nanofluidics to biotechnology. We present a novel approach that combines interferometric scattering (iSCAT) detection…
We demonstrate that a set of microfabricated electrodes can be coupled to a commercial optical tweezers device, implementing a hybrid electro-optical trap with multiple functionalities to manipulate micro/nanoparticles in suspension. Our…
The center-of-mass motion of optically trapped dielectric nanoparticles in vacuum is extremely well-decoupled from its environment, making a powerful tool for measurements of feeble sub-attonewton forces. We demonstrate a method to trap and…
Accurate delivery of small targets in high vacuum is a pivotal task in many branches of science and technology. Beyond the different strategies developed for atoms, proteins, macroscopic clusters and pellets, the manipulation of neutral…