Orbital motion of optically trapped particles in Laguerre-Gaussian beams

SH Simpson, S Hanna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

51 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A theoretical examination of off-axial trapping in non-paraxial Laguerre-Gaussian beams is presented for both the Rayleigh and Mie regimes. It is well known that the force acting on a particle may be divided into a term proportional to the intensity gradient and another representing the scattering force. The latter term may be further sub-divided into a dissipative radiation force and a term dependent on the electric field gradient. For Rayleigh particles in Laguerre-Gaussian beams, it is shown that the field gradient term contributes exactly half of the scattering force. This may be compared with a plane wave, in which it makes zero contribution. The off-axis trapping positions for spheres with radii varying from 0.1 to 0.5 mu m and a range of refractive indices are calculated numerically in the Mie regime, using a conjugate gradient approach. Azimuthal forces and orbital torques are presented for particles in their trapping positions, for beams with different orbital angular momentum and polarization states. The components of a "spin" torque, acting through the center of the particle, are also computed for absorbing particles in the Mie regime. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America
Translated title of the contributionOrbital motion of optically trapped particles in Laguerre-Gaussian beams
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2061 - 2071
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of the Optical Society of America A
Volume27
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2010

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