Related papers: Nanometric laser trapping based on nanostructured …
A nanofiber-based optical tweezer is demonstrated. Trapping is achieved by combining attractive near-field optical gradient forces with repulsive electrostatic forces. Silica-coated Fe$_2$O$_3$ nanospheres of 300 diameter are trapped as…
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…
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…
Optical tweezers, the three-dimensional confinement of a nanoparticle by a strongly focused beam of light, have been widely employed in investigating biomaterial nanomechanics, nanoscopic fluid properties, and ultrasensitive detections in…
The ability of metallic nanostructures to confine light at the sub-wavelength scale enables new perspectives and opportunities in the field of nanotechnology. Making use of this unique advantage, nano-optical trapping techniques have been…
Optical tweezers is a very well-established technique that has developed into a standard tool for trapping and manipulating micron and submicron particles with great success in the last decades. Although the nature of light enforces…
Since the advent of atom laser-cooling, trapping or cooling natural molecules has been a long standing and challenging goal. Here, we demonstrate a method for laser-trapping molecules that is radically novel in its configuration, in its…
We present experimental evidence of plasmonic-enhanced optical tweezers, of polystyrene beads in deionized water in the vicinity of metal-coated nanostructures. The optical tweezers operate with a continuous wave (CW) near-infrared laser.…
The role of image charges in nanoporous semiconductor materials is investigated within the framework of the effective mass and envelope function approximations. We show that nanometric air bubbles in these materials can act as…
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…
We have used a gold nanohole array to trap single polystyrene nanoparticles, with a mean diameter of 30 nm, into separated hot spots located at connecting nanoslot regions. A high trap stiffness of approximately 0.85 fN/(nmmW) at a low…
Particles that can be trapped in optical tweezers range from tens of microns down to tens of nanometres in size. Interestingly, this size range includes large macromolecules. We show experimentally, in agreement with theoretical…
Tapered optical fibers with a nanofiber waist are versatile tools for interfacing light and matter. In this context, laser-cooled atoms trapped in the evanescent field surrounding the optical nanofiber are of particular interest: They…
In this work we present a plasmonic platform capable of trapping nano-objects as small as 100 nm in two different spatial configurations. The switch between the two trapping states, localized on the tip and on the outer wall of a vertical…
We report the first demonstration that carbon nanotubes can be trapped and manipulated by optical tweezers. This observation is surprising because individual nanotubes are substantially smaller than the wavelength of light, and thus should…
Radiation pressure forces in a focussed laser beam can be used to trap microscopic absorbing particles against a substrate. Calculations based on momentum transfer considerations show that stable trapping occurs before the beam waist, and…
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 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…
On-chip optical trapping systems allow for high scalability and lower the barrier to access. Systems capable of trapping multiple particles typically come with high cost and complexity. Here we present a technique for making parabolic…
Controlling the transport, trapping, and filtering of nanoparticles is important for many applications. By virtue of their weak response to gravity and their thermal motion, various physical mechanisms can be exploited for such operations…