Related papers: Optical alignment and spinning of laser-trapped mi…
We consider optical properties of a gas of molecules that are brought to fast unidirectional spinning by a pulsed laser field. It is shown that a circularly polarized probe light passing through the medium inverts its polarization…
Recent developments in the understanding of optical angular momentum have resulted in many demonstrations of unusual optical phenomena, such as optical beams with orbital angular momentum and transverse spinning light. Here we detail novel…
Precision in optical micromanipulation is critical for non-invasive, non-contact control of objects with light and for using light to measure forces and torques. We demonstrate the control of birefringent objects over three translational…
Optically levitated and cooled nanoparticles are a new quantum system whose application to the creation of non-classical states of motion and quantum limited sensing is fundamentally limited by recoil and bulk heating. We study the creation…
It is known that internal energy flow in a light beam can be divided into the orbital flow, associated with the macroscopic energy redistribution within the beam, and the spin flow originating from instantaneous rotation of the field…
We demonstrate that tight focusing of a circularly polarized Gaussian beam in optical tweezers leads to spin-momentum locking - with the transverse spin angular momentum density being independent of helicity, while the transverse momentum…
We investigate, both theoretically and experimentally, the phenomenon of polarization rotation of a weak, linearly-polarized optical (probe) field in an atomic system with multiple three-level electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT)…
Orbital angular momentum and torque transfer play central roles in a wide range of magnetic textures and devices including skyrmions and spin-torque electronics(1-4). Analogous topological structures are now also being explored in…
We introduce the concept of resonant optical torque that allows enhancing substantially a transfer of optical angular momentum (AM) of light to a subwavelength particle. We consider high-index cylindrical dielectric nanoparticles supporting…
Vortices are whirling disturbances commonly found in nature ranging from tremendously small scales in Bose-Einstein condensates to cosmologically colossal scales in spiral galaxies. An optical vortex, generally associated with a spiral…
In optics, we can generate vortex beams using specific methods such as spiral phase plates or computer generated holograms. While, in nature, it is worth noting that water can produce vortices by a circularly symmetrical hole. So, if a…
The use of nanophotonics for optical manipulation has continuously attracted interest in both fundamental research and practical applications, due to its significantly enhanced capabilities at the nanoscale. In this work, we showed that…
Manifestations of orbital angular momentum induced effects in the diffraction of a radially polarized vector beam by an off-axis tilted aperture are studied both experimentally and theoretically. Experiments were carried out to extract the…
Optical forces - studied since the earliest days of laser physics - continue to reveal rich dynamics and enable powerful tools for manipulation of objects on micro- and nanoscales, and even individual atoms. Lateral optical forces, which…
Since their invention in the 1980s [1], optical tweezers have found a wide range of applications, from biophotonics and mechanobiology to microscopy and optomechanics [2, 3, 4, 5]. Simulations of the motion of microscopic particles held by…
Light carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM)--known as vortex beams--has broadened the scope of understanding and applications of light's angular momentum. Optical tweezers using OAM, often referred to as optical spanners, have…
Structured beams of light can move small objects in surprising ways. Particularly striking examples include observations of polarization-dependent forces acting on optically isotropic objects and tractor beams that can pull objects opposite…
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…
Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beam has orbital angular momentum (OAM). A particle trapped in an LG beam will rotate about the beam axis, due to the transfer of OAM. The rotation of the particle is usually in the same direction as that of the beam…
In this Letter we show how a single beam optical trap offers the means for three-dimensional manipulation of semiconductor nanorods in solution. Furthermore rotation of the direction of the electric field provides control over the…