A nonuniformly spaced linear antenna array with broadside radiation characteristics is synthesized using firefly algorithm and particle swarm optimization. The objective of the work is to find the optimum spacing between the radiating antenna elements which will create a predefined arbitrary radiation pattern. The excitation amplitudes of all the antenna elements are assumed to be constant. The optimum spacing between the array elements are obtained using firefly algorithm. The minimum allowed distance between the antenna elements is defined in such a way that mutual coupling between the elements can be ignored. Numerical analysis is performed to calculate the far-field radiation characteristics of the array. Two numerical examples are shown to form two different desired predefined radiation patterns. The performance of the firefly algorithm and particle swarm optimization is compared in terms of convergence rate and global best solution achieved. The performances of the optimized nonuniformly spaced arrays are analyzed. Finally, contour plots of the radiated power from the optimized array in the horizontal plane and vertical plane in the far-field region are provided.

The force-field generated by a near-field optical trap is analyzed. A C-shaped engraving on a gold film is considered as the trap. By separating out the conservative component and the solenoidal component of the force-field using Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition, it was found that the force is non-conservative. Conventional method of calculating the optical potential from the force-field is shown to be inaccurate when the trapping force is not purely conservative. An alternative method is presented to accurately estimate the potential. The positional statistics of a trapped nanoparticle in this non-conservative field is calculated. A model is proposed that relates the position distribution to the conservative component of the force. The model is found to be consistent with numerical and experimental results. In order to show the generality of the approach, the same analysis is repeated for a plasmonic trap consisting of a gold nanopillar. Similar consistency is observed for this structure as well.

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The non-conservative nature of the force field generated by a near-field optical trap is analyzed. A plasmonic C-shaped engraving on a gold film is considered as the trap. The force field is calculated using the Maxwell stress tensor method. The Helmholtz-Hodge decomposition is used to extract the conservative and the non-conservative component of the force. Due to the non-negligible non-conservative component, it is found that the conventional approach of extracting the potential by direct integration of the force is not accurate. Despite the non-conservative nature of the force field, it is found that the statistical properties of a trapped nanoparticle can be estimated from the conservative component of the force field alone. Experimental and numerical results are presented to support the claims.