Optical Manipulation with Plasmonic Beam Shaping Antenna Structures

Abstract

Near-field optical trapping of objects using plasmonic antenna structures has recently attracted great attention. However, metal nanostructures also provide a compact platform for general wavefront engineering of intermediate and far-field beams. Here, we analyze optical forces generated by plasmonic beam shaping antenna structures and show that they can be used for general optical manipulation such as guiding of a dielectric particle along a linear or curved trajectory. This removes the need for bulky diffractive optical components and facilitates the integration of optical force manipulation into a highly functional, compact system.

Direct coupling of photonic modes and surface plasmon polaritons observed in 2-photon PEEM

“…As an analogue to the forthcoming method used to solve for SPP modes, we solve Eqs. (6) and 7graphically as shown in Fig. 8(a).…”

“…In comparison to molecular sensing, most research on propagating surface plasmons is still at a fundamental level [3]. Questions remain as to the most effective shapes for plasmonic antennas [4,5] and conduits [6], better materials for their fabrication [7,8], and of the best methods for interfacing photonic and plasmonic components [9]. A key to the success of this research is the continuing development of instrumentation and methods for visualizing SPPs.…”