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.     

Experimental and theoretical study of the transient rotation of isotropic transparent microparticles in astigmatic optical tweezers

Micrometer-sized rod-like non-birefringent transparent particles trapped by an astigmatic laser beam having elliptical intensity profile spontaneously rotate until they become aligned with the major axis of the beam cross-section. The observed rotation confirms a simple picture based on orbital angular momentum transfer from the light beam to the trapped particle. A model which regards the particle as a thin cylindrical lens with effective focal lengths f₁ and f₂ has allowed to calculate the applied optical torque and, hence, the time law governing the particle alignment. The time evolution of the particle alignment is studied for different rod-like particles by analysing the sequence of frames recorded by a CCD camera. The time evolution of the angle formed between the main axes of the body and the laser shape results in good agreement with the theory for bodies fully immersed in the spot size of the laser. Discrepancies observed for rod-like particles longer than the minor elliptical axis of the beam cross-section, were removed by developing a more general model taking into account the partial overlapping between the body and the laser profile.     

激光捕获技术及其发展

激光捕获技术是利用光辐射力来捕捉、移动和操纵微粒的先进技术。光镊即单光束梯度力光阱是通过在高度会聚的激光束束腰附近所产生的极高的场强梯度来形成皮牛顿量级的力,可以三维地捕获和操纵微小粒子。阐述了激光捕获技术的模型和原理以及系统的基本结构;追踪了激光捕获技术的最新研究进展;介绍了非高斯型光阱、光纤光阱和全息光镊等几种特殊形式,并分析了每种形式的特点。展望了激光捕获技术的发展前景。     

完美涡旋光中微米级粒子的受力与力矩特性分析

基于紧聚焦方法在几何焦平面处获得了完美涡旋光场,理论分析了该光场中微米级尺寸微粒受到的光学力与轨道矩。结果表明,该完美涡旋光可以在横平面上捕获微粒并驱动其绕光轴做轨道旋转运动,微粒受到的轨道矩随着拓扑荷的增大先增大后趋近于稳定。此外,分析了圆偏振、径向偏振和方位角偏振完美涡旋光对微粒施加的光学力和轨道矩。结果表明完美涡旋光的偏振态在一定程度上会影响微粒的轨道运动,圆偏振完美涡旋光更适合用于诱导微粒轨道旋转。     

Measuring the complete force field of an optical trap

The use of optical traps to measure or apply forces on the molecular level requires a precise knowledge of the trapping force field. Close to the trap center, this field is typically approximated as linear in the displacement of the trapped microsphere. However, applications demanding high forces at low laser intensities can probe the light-microsphere interaction beyond the linear regime. Here, we measured the full nonlinear force and displacement response of an optical trap in two dimensions using a dual-beam optical trap setup with back-focal-plane photodetection. We observed a substantial stiffening of the trap beyond the linear regime that depends on microsphere size, in agreement with Mie theory calculations. Surprisingly, we found that the linear detection range for forces exceeds the one for displacement by far. Our approach allows for a complete calibration of an optical trap.     

Optical Force on a Micro-Sphere by the Laser Beam from a Lensed Optical Fiber Inserted at an Angle

Optical forces acting on a micro-sphere were studied to corroborate the single-beam fiber optic trap. Transverse optical force acted to pull the micro-sphere back to the beam axis, but axial force always acted in the direction away from the optical fiber end because the laser beam from optical fiber could not be strongly focused. A stable two-dimensional optical trapping could be obtained by the weakly focused laser beam from the fiber end inserted at an angle.     

非线性晶体产生的空心光束中大尺寸粒子囚禁与导引

提出了一种基于非线性ZnSe晶体产生的空心光束与光泳力的大尺寸粒子二维囚禁与一维导引、三维囚禁方案.理论上分析并计算了单个非线性ZnSe晶体产生的空心光束内粒子受到的横向与纵向光泳力,纵向光泳力的大小同粒子尺寸与光束尺寸比例的四次方成正比,与空心光束功率成正比,方向与光束传播方向一致.粒子尺寸与空心光束尺寸越接近时,横向光泳力的大小越大.结果表明该光泳力可以实现对大尺寸粒子的二维囚禁,同时可对粒子进行长距离(米量级)一维定向导引;理论上分析并计算了基于双非线性ZnSe晶体产生的局域空心光束内粒子所受横向与纵向光泳力情况,光泳力与系统参数的依赖关系与单个非线性晶体产生的空心光束中的粒子受力情况类似,不同的是该条件下纵向光泳力指向光束中心.结果表明该局域空心光束可以实现大尺寸粒子的三维有效囚禁.基于非线性ZnSe晶体产生的空心光束或者局域空心光束可以作为大尺寸粒子非接触式有效操控的工具,在现代光学以及生物医学中有潜在的应用.     

Symmetry and the generation and measurement of optical torque

A key element in the generation of optical torque in optical traps, which occurs when electromagnetic angular momentum is transferred from the trapping beam to the trapped particle by scattering, is the symmetries of the scattering particle and the trapping beam. We discuss the effect of such symmetries on the generation and measurement of optical torque in optical tweezers, and some consequent general principles for the design of optically driven micromachines.     

高度聚焦的余弦高斯光束对瑞利粒子的辐射力分析

通过数值计算,得出了聚焦后的余弦高斯光束在瑞利粒子上产生的辐射力在整个空间的分布情况.研究发现,利用余弦高斯光束操控粒子是可行的,且利用余弦高斯光束能同时对高折射率粒子和低折射率粒子进行俘获. 关键词： 余弦高斯光束 光陷俘 辐射力     

红外显微观测被俘获吸光性颗粒

光镊技术被广泛应用在俘获和操纵微纳米尺寸颗粒, 目前被研究学者普遍接受的俘获吸光性颗粒的机理为光泳力. 本文实现了对空气中被俘获的吸光性颗粒的红外显微观测. 当激光器功率为1.0 W时, 成功观测到被俘获墨粉颗粒(直径约7 μm)和甲苯胺蓝颗粒(直径约为1–20 μm)的温升约为14 K, 为光泳力理论提供了强有力的证据. 另外, 首次用可见光显微镜和红外显微镜同时观测到被俘获颗粒的周期振荡现象, 并分析了振荡现象的产生机理. 关键词： 光镊 光俘获 红外显微     

Analyses of radiation force and torque on a spherical particle near a substrate illuminated by a focused Laguerre-Gaussian beam

We present the analyses of radiation force and torque on a spherical particle illuminated by Laguerre-Gaussian beam. Since Laguerre-Gaussian beam has angular momentum, the particle can be rotated by illumination of Laguerre-Gaussian beam. Radiation forces and torques for a silver sphere and a silicon sphere near the silver substrate are analyzed. We found that the maximum torque on silicon sphere is about five times higher than the maximum torque on silver sphere and fine control of the focused spot is required to push the particle to the substrate.     

Calculation of optical trapping forces on a dielectric sphere in the ray optics regime produced by a radially polarized laser beam

We calculated the optical trapping forces on a microscopic particle in the ray optics regime for the case where a radially polarized laser beam is applied. A higher axial trapping efficiency than for a circularly polarized doughnut beam was predicted due to the large p polarization component. Three-dimensional optical trapping was expected for particles with a larger index of refraction and for objectives with a smaller numerical aperture.     

Rotational motions of optically trapped microscopic particles by a vortex femtosecond laser

The rotational motions of the optically trapped microscopic particles by the vortex femtosecond laser beam are investigated in this paper.Black particles can be trapped and rotated by a vortex femtosecond laser beam very effectively because the vortex beam carries orbital angular momentum due to the helical wave-front structure in assoication with the central phase singularity.Trapped black particles rotate in the vortex beam due to the absorption of the angular momentum transferred from the vortex beam.The rotating directions of the trapped particles can be modulated by reversing the topological charge of the optical vortex in the vortex femtosecond beam.And the rotating speeds of the trapped microscopic particles greatly depend on the topological charges of the vortex tweezer and the used pulse energies.     

Optical Force Sensing with Cylindrical Microcontainers

Quantitative force sensing reveals essential information for the study of biological systems. Forces on molecules, cells, and tissues uncover functioning conditions and pathways. To analyze such forces, spherical particles are trapped and controlled inside an optical tweezers (OT) trap. Although these spherical particles are well‐established sensors in biophysics, elongated probes are envisioned for remote force sensing reducing heat damage caused by OT. There is thus a growing demand for force metrology with OT using complexly shaped objects, e.g., sac‐like organelles or rod‐like bacteria. Here, the employment of Zeolite‐L crystals as cylindrical force sensing probes inside a single optical trap is investigated. It is shown that cylindrical objects can be used as force probes since existing calibration assays can be performed with suitable corrections. Forces of active driving assays are compared with passive calibration methods. Finally, the investigations are extended to direct force measurements based on momentum calibration, in which the influence of rotation due to torque in a single optical trap is unveiled. Simulations reveal the relation between torque and the position of equilibrium in the trap. The results highlight the functionality of Zeolite‐L crystals as probes for force sensing, while opening perspectives for enhanced, accurate force metrology in biophotonics.     

Optical trapping and manipulation of microscopic particles and biological cells by laser beams

Optical trapping incorporating visible and near-IR laser beams has become an important tool for precise, noncontact manipulation of various micrometre-sized particles. This paper reviews basic principles and features of single-beam optical trapping of microscopic particles such as biological cells, polystyrene latex spheres, small crystals and metal particles. Trapping forces measured and calculated on the basis of ray optics are discussed. Some interesting applications are also described, including an optical micromotor, all-optical biological cell fusion, observation of nonlinear optical phenomena and microlaser oscillation, and metal particle trapping.     

Nanometer gold-silica composite particles manipulated by optical tweezers

We have studied the behavior of nano or micro size composite particles submitted to optical trapping forces and a comparison was made with homogeneous particles of similar dimension. The forces were measured using the power spectrum signal analysis. Most of the results presented were obtained using a lateral effect position sensitive detector (PSD), which allowed the fluctuations of the particle position in the optical trap to be monitored. A 4-quadrant photodiode was also used for the same purpose. We bring clear experimental evidence that the trapping force was increased by a factor of about 2-3 for composite particles made of a colloidal gold core encapsulated in a silica shell, with respect to homogeneous silica or latex beads. These results were discussed in the frame of the various approaches currently used for modeling optical tweezing forces.     

Trapping colloidal dielectric microparticles with overlapping evanescent optical waves

We experimentally demonstrate the creation of a stable surface trap for colloidal microparticles in a high-intensity evanescent optical field that is produced by total internal reflection of two counter-propagating and mutually incoherent laser beams. While the particles confined in the trap undergo fast Brownian motion, they never “stick” to the surface – not even at high optical powers – but rather levitate above the surface. If many particles are stored in the trap, they tend to form a well ordered self-organized array. We apply a numerical model based on the general energy-momentum tensor formalism to evaluate the overall optical force acting on a trapped particle. The optical-field parameters are calculated using the finite element method. The simulations show that for small particles a sharp repulsive potential at the surface – required for the levitation – can have neither optical nor light-induced thermal origin. Among the possible non-optical forces, electrostatic double-layer repulsion is often considered to be the origin of the levitation. We find, however, that the experimentally observed levitation of small particles in a high-intensity evanescent-wave trap cannot be explained by this effect.     

Optical torque wrench: angular trapping, rotation, and torque detection of quartz microparticles

We describe an apparatus that can measure the instantaneous angular displacement and torque applied to a quartz particle which is angularly trapped. Torque is measured by detecting the change in angular momentum of the transmitted trap beam. The rotational Brownian motion of the trapped particle and its power spectral density are used to determine the angular trap stiffness. The apparatus features a feedback control that clamps torque or other rotational quantities. The torque sensitivity demonstrated is ideal for the study of known biological molecular motors.     

瑞利粒子在贝塞尔光束中的横向受力

 为寻找捕获瑞利粒子的最佳光场,利用电磁模型推导了贝塞尔光束捕获粒子的最小半径的表达式,并数值计算了瑞利粒子在贝塞尔光束和高斯光束中所受的横向力和势阱的深度。结果表明:当激光功率为4 W时,贝塞尔光束仅能在光轴处稳定地捕获瑞利粒子;当激光功率达到6 W时,贝塞尔光束能够在光轴和次极大位置捕获瑞利粒子。在相同的激光参数条件下,高斯光束无法克服布朗运动的影响稳定地捕获瑞利粒子,贝塞尔光束更有利于捕获瑞利粒子。     

Stable optical trapping based on optical binding forces

Various trapping configurations have been realized so far, either based on the scattering force or the gradient force. In this Letter, we propose a new trapping regime based on the equilibrium between a scattering force and optical binding forces only. The trap is realized from the interaction between a single plane wave and a series of fixed small particles, and is efficient at trapping multiple free particles. The effects are demonstrated analytically upon computing the exact scattering from a collection of cylindrical particles and calculating the Lorentz force on each free particle via the Maxwell stress tensor.