Theoretical comparison of optical traps created by standing wave and single beam

We used generalised Lorenz–Mie scattering theory (GLMT) to compare submicron-sized particle optical trapping in a single focused beam and a standing wave. We focus especially on the study of maximal axial trapping force, minimal laser power necessary for confinement, axial trap position, and axial trap stiffness in dependency on trapped sphere radius, refractive index, and Gaussian beam waist size. In the single beam trap (SBT), the range of refractive indices which enable stable trapping depends strongly on the beam waist size (it grows with decreasing waist). On the contrary to the SBT, there are certain sphere sizes (non-trapping radii) that disable sphere confinement in standing wave trap (SWT) for arbitrary value of refractive index. For other sphere radii we show that the SWT enables confinement of high refractive index particle in wider laser beams and provides axial trap stiffness and maximal axial trapping force at least by two orders and one order bigger than in SBT, respectively.     

Resonant surface plasmons of a metal nanosphere treated as propagating surface plasmons

On the assumption that the resonant surface plasmons on a spherical nanoparticle are formed by standing waves of two counter-propagating surface plasmon waves along the surface, by using Mie theory simulation, we find that the dispersions of surface plasmon resonant modes supported by silver nanospheres match with those of the surface plasmons on a semiinfinite medium-silver interface very well. This suggests that the resonant surface plasmons of a metal nanosphere can be treated as a propagating surface plasmon wave.     

高精细度光学微腔中原子的偶极俘获

利用梯度光场产生的光学偶极力对原子的作用是实现原子俘获的重要途径.分析高精细 度光学微腔中的偶极阱，讨论了由腔内驻波场、侧向和横向约束光构成光学势阱的特性，说 明在高精细度光学微腔中可以产生尺度为亚微米，阱深为mK量级的纯光学阱，并获得单原子 与光场的强耦合作用.还讨论了激光线宽对微腔中偶极阱阱深的影响. 关键词： 光学微腔 偶极俘获 单原子     

RESONANT INTERACTION BETWEEN A PAUL-TRAPPED ION AND A STANDING WAVE LASER

An ultracold two-level ion experiencing the standing wave of a resonant laser in a Paul trap is investigated in the Lamb-Dicke limit and weak excitation regime, with full consideration of the time-dependence of the trapping potential. The analytical forms of the wave functions of the system can be described with our approach, and the time evolution of the pseudo-energy of the system as well as the squeezing property of the quadrature components is studied in comparison with the treatment of harmonic oscillator model.     

Submicrometer position control of single trapped neutral atoms

We optically detect the positions of single neutral cesium atoms stored in a standing wave dipole trap with a subwavelength resolution of 143 nm rms. The distance between two simultaneously trapped atoms is measured with an even higher precision of 36 nm rms. We resolve the discreteness of the interatomic distances due to the 532 nm spatial period of the standing wave potential and infer the exact number of trapping potential wells separating the atoms. Finally, combining an initial position detection with a controlled transport, we place single atoms at a predetermined position along the trap axis to within 300 nm rms.     

Time-dependent scattering of a standing surface plasmon by rapid ionization in a semiconductor

Scattering of a standing surface plasmon by rapid ionization in a semiconductor is investigated. We show that, for a standing plasmon, in contrast with a traveling plasmon, the scattering depends on the plasmon phase at the moment of ionization. By changing the moment of ionization, we can control the energy that is transferred into newly excited modes, which include a frequency-upshifted standing surface plasmon, transient outgoing radiation, and free-streaming currents with a static magnetic field in the semiconductor. The phenomena that are described open new possibilities for probing the dynamics of surface excitations in semiconductors on an ultrashort time scale.     

Large Detuning Interaction Between a Paul-Trapped Ion and a standing Wave Laser

An ultracold two-level ion which stays at its internal ground state, experiencing the standing wave of a large detuning laser in a Paul trap, has been studied in the Lamb-Dicke limit and near the weak excitation regime, with full consideration of the time dependence of the trapping potential.     

Analysis of surface and guided wave plasmon polariton modes in insulator–metal–insulator planar plasmonic waveguides

Theoretical and experimental study of the surface plasmon–polariton and guided wave plasmon polariton modes is presented for the Sapphire/Ag/Polycarbonate/Air structure. Theoretical results are obtained by solving complex multilayer eigenvalue equations as well as the reflectivity equation for this structure. It is proposed that the mode attenuation can be significantly reduced by inserting a low index dielectric buffer between the metal and the guiding dielectric layer. The dispersion and attenuation curves are generated. Both the surface plasmon and guided wave plasmon polariton modes are studied experimentally. The experimental values of the effective refractive indices agree well with the theoretical values. The electric field profiles are generated and used to examine the nature of modes. After optimization of various parameters the condition for low loss single mode guiding is obtained for the proposed structure. Effect of metal thickness on surface plasmon mode is also discussed. It is inferred that in a properly optimized plasmonic waveguide, the losses can be reduced by a factor of 4.     

Simple and high efficient optical trapping using a cylindrical lens and a single plane wave of incidence

We suggest a simple and high efficient method for trapping particles in the evanescent field. In this method, a single plane wave is normally incident on the cylindrical surface of a cylindrical lens and then incident on the plane surface of the lens at an angle larger than the critical angle. Multiple reflections of light within the cylindrical lens create two evanescent waves with different directions in the transmitted field. Interference of two evanescent waves comes into being a standing wave which can stably trap particles close to the top of the cylindrical lens. Based on the Rayleigh approximation, we obtain analytical expressions of optical force acting on a Rayleigh particle placed in the vicinity of the lens. We find that the trap stiffness and trap depth is dependent on the radius of the cylindrical lens, wavelength and polarization of light, and incident angle at the lens–liquid interface.     

Inserting two atoms into a single optical micropotential

We recently demonstrated that strings of trapped atoms inside a standing wave optical dipole trap can be rearranged using optical tweezers [Y. Miroshnychenko, Nature 442, 151 (2006)]. This technique allows us to actively set the interatomic separations on the scale of the individual trapping potential wells. Here, we use such a distance-control operation to insert two atoms into the same potential well. The detected success rate of this manipulation is 16(-3)(+4)%, in agreement with the predictions of a theoretical model based on our experimental parameters.     

Series solution of two trapped ions experiencing the standing wave of a resonant laser

Two identical two-level ions driven by a standing wave laser on resonance in a harmonic trap are investigated in the Lamb–Dicke limit and weak excitation regime. We present series solutions of such a system for the trap center staying at a node of the standing wave.     

Optical trapping of nanoparticles and microparticles by a Gaussian standing wave

The optical trapping of nanoparticles and microparticles by a Gaussian standing wave is experimentally demonstrated for the first time to the authors' knowledge. The standing wave is obtained under a microscope objective as a result of the interference of an incoming laser beam and a beam reflected on a microscope slide that has been coated with a system of reflective dielectric layers. Experimental results show that three-dimensional trapping of nanoparticles (100-nm polystyrene spheres) and one or more vertically aligned micro-objects (5-mum polystyrene spheres, yeast cells) can easily be achieved by use of even highly aberrated beams or objectives with low numerical apertures.     

Thermal emission properties of one-dimensional grating with different parameters

Thermal emission is often presented as a typical incoherent process. Incorporating periodic structures on the tungsten surface offers the possibility to obtain coherent thermal emission sources. Here we illustrate grating as an example to examine the influence of the geometric parameters on the thermal emission properties. It is found that for very shallow gratings, only surface plasmon polariton(SPP) modes can be excited and the emission efficiency is closely related with the filling factor. When the ratio of the depth to period of the grating is in the range from 1/20 to 1/2, the field between the adjacent corners can be coupled to each other across the air gap for the filling factor larger than 0.5 and produce a similar resonance as in an air rod. Further increase of the grating depth can cause the groove of the grating forming metal–insulator–metal(MIM) structures and induce surface plasmon standing wave modes. Our investigations will not only be helpful for manipulating thermal emission properties according to applications, but also help us understand the coupling mechanism between the incident electromagnetism waves and gratings with different parameters in various research fields.     

TEM01模式激光对两能级原子的作用力研究

推导了两能级原子在稳态和小速度一阶微扰近似下的受力矢量方程，并分析表明ＴＥＭ０１模光场以原子的作用力中存在旋涡力，对在大正失谐δ〉〉Ω０〉〉Г和ｚ〈〈ｚ０＝ｋｗ＾２／λ条件下的ＴＥＭ０１模行波和驻波场中原子的受力进行了分析，对行波场，自发辐射对原子运动的影响很大，但在ｒ〈〈λ区域内原子受到横向囚禁力；对驻波场，自发辐射的影响可以忽略，考虑在ｚ方向波长范围内原子的平均受力得到的结论为：在横向，除了有     

非傍轴双光束势阱产生的辐射力

分析了两束相对传输的非傍轴高斯光束相干叠加形成的双光束势阱对瑞利粒子产生的辐射力,并作了数值计算,结果表明,与傍轴双光束势阱相比,非傍轴双光束势阱的辐射力有明显的不同,纵向辐射力和横向辐射力都增大,y方向平衡点数目由一个增加到多个,且势阱更深,横向辐射力变化趋势更陡,更有利于微粒的精确定位,与非傍轴单光束势阱相比,势阱更深,所产生的辐射力更大,因而更利于控制瑞利粒子。     

Surface plasmon optical tweezers: tunable optical manipulation in the femtonewton range

We present a quantitative analysis of 2D surface plasmon based optical tweezers able to trap microcolloids at a patterned metal surface under low laser intensity. Photonic force microscopy is used to assess the properties of surface plasmon traps, such as confinement and stiffness, revealing stable trapping with forces in the range of a few tens of femtonewtons. We also investigate the specificities of surface plasmon tweezers with respect to conventional 3D tweezers responsible for their selectivity to the trapped specimen's size. The accurate engineering of the trapping properties through the adjustment of the illumination parameters opens new perspectives in the realization of future optically driven on-a-chip devices.     

二维电子气等离激元太赫兹波器件

固态等离激元太赫兹波器件正成为微波毫米波电子器件技术和半导体激光器技术向太赫兹波段发展和融合的重要方向之一。本综述介绍AlGaN/GaN异质结高浓度和高迁移率二维电子气中的等离激元调控、激发及其在太赫兹波探测器、调制器和光源中应用的近期研究进展。通过光栅和太赫兹天线实现自由空间太赫兹波与二维电子气等离激元的耦合,通过太赫兹法布里-珀罗谐振腔进一步调制太赫兹波模式,增强太赫兹波与等离激元的耦合强度。在光栅-谐振腔耦合的二维电子气中验证了场效应栅控的等离激元色散关系,实现了等离激元模式与太赫兹波腔模强耦合产生的等离极化激元模式,演示了太赫兹波的调制和发射。在太赫兹天线耦合二维电子气中实现了等离激元共振与非共振的太赫兹波探测,建立了太赫兹场效应混频探测的物理模型,指导了室温高灵敏度自混频探测器的设计与优化。研究表明,基于非共振等离激元激发可发展形成室温高速高灵敏度的太赫兹探测器及其焦平面阵列技术。然而,固态等离激元的高损耗特性仍是制约基于等离激元共振的高效太赫兹光源和调制器的主要瓶颈。未来的研究重点将围绕高品质因子等离激元谐振腔的构筑,包括固态等离激元物理、等离激元谐振腔边界的调控、新型室温高迁移率二维电子材料的运用和高品质太赫兹谐振腔与等离激元器件的集成等。     

近场光镊技术研究新进展

光镊技术,又称光学捕获技术,它是利用光的辐射压力来捕获和操纵包括电介质颗粒、生物细胞及生物大分子在内的微小粒子的。近场光镊技术利用近场光学倏逝场随距离急剧衰减的特征,可显著地降低捕获粒子的尺寸,实现纳米捕获。追踪了近场光镊技术的最新进展,包括全内反射相干倏逝场、近场光学镀膜光纤探针尖、激光照明金属探针尖和聚焦倏逝场用于近场光学捕获,并对其进行了比较,分析了它们存在的主要问题和未来发展方向。     

Collective excitations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a 1D optical lattice

We study low-lying collective modes of an elongated 87Rb condensate produced in a 3D magnetic harmonic trap with the addition of a 1D periodic potential which is provided by a laser standing wave along the axial direction. While the transverse breathing mode remains unperturbed, quadrupole and dipole oscillations along the optical lattice are strongly modified. Precise measurements of the collective mode frequencies at different heights of the optical barriers provide a stringent test of the theoretical model recently introduced [M. Kr?mer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 180404 (2002)]].     

Multifocal optical trapping using counter-propagating radially-polarized beams

A model of optical tweezers which can trap a chain of Rayleigh particles is proposed by using two counter-propagating equal highly focused radial polarized beams. Calculations show that a multifocal distribution along the optical axis is formed and the scattering force is equal to zero in the total focal filed, consequently a chain of metallic Rayleigh particles can be stably trapped. The trap force and the trap stiffness using two counter-propagating Radially-polarized beams are larger than those using two counter-propagating linearly-polarized beams. The trapping stability is calculated and analyzed in detail. The trapping number of particles in a trapping chain can be controlled by adjusting the aperture angle of the objective and the parameters of the filter used in the proposed trap system.