Static optical sorting in a laser interference field

Abstract

We present a unique technique for optical sorting of heterogeneous suspensions of microparticles, which does not require the flow of the immersion medium. The method employs the size-dependent response of suspended dielectric particles to the optical field of three intersecting beams that form a fringelike interference pattern. We experimentally demonstrate sorting of a polydisperse suspension of polystyrene beads of diameters 1, 2, and 5.2μm and living yeast cells.

Speed enhancement of multi-particle chain in a traveling standing wave

“…Usually it is assumed that one or more particles are trapped in a static fluid and manipulated by repositioning of the focused trapping beams (so-called optical tweezers 1 ). More advanced applications, such as optical sorting [2][3][4][5] or delivery, 6 use spatially structured beams to influence particles behavior in static or dynamic fluids. In the case where multiple particles are simultaneously trapped a mutual interaction between the particles takes place.…”

Optical trapping and binding of particles in an optofluidic stable Fabry–Pérot resonator with single-sided injection

“…1 To this end, the majority ofexperimental setups adopt free space tightly focused light 20 beams to achieve the gradient in the electromagnetic field needed for obtaining optical tweezers; but most often than not, the optical setup is off-chip and requires rather high optical power, typically hundreds of milliwatts or even few watts. [1][2][3][4] To overcome the bulky, free space universaloptical tweezers, 25 the use of optical integrated structures and optical resonators is being extensively investigatedto achieve on-chip, low power and compact size optical traps; which led to the development of different configurations to achieve localization control and/or simple manipulation. To name some of these on-chip optical 30 trapping modules: evanescent fields from waveguides and Whispering Gallery Mode resonators,in the form of ring resonators, 5 disks, 6 or spheres 7 are used to propel particles along the light propagating path.Multimode-interference (MMI) structures 8 and photonic crystals 9 are used to trap particles at 35 specific locations.…”

Engineering light-matter interaction for emerging optical manipulation applications

“…Beam modulation techniques are also available to generate dynamic beams for creating a reconfigurable trap or even multiple traps for moving particles along user-defined trajectories. Alternately, defined trajectories can also be generated using static beams, for instance in passive optical sorting that separate particles according to their optical properties [57][58][59].…”