From Far-Field to Near-Field Micro- and Nanoparticle Optical Trapping

Applied Sciences

TheodorosD. Bouloumis¹  Síle Nic Chormaic¹ 

[1] Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan;

关键词: optical tweezers;    optical forces;    particle trapping;    plasmonics;    self-induced back action effect;    surface plasmons;   

DOI  :  10.3390/app10041375

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Optical tweezers are a very well-established technique that have developed into a standard tool for trapping and manipulating micron and submicron particles with great success in the last decades. Although the nature of light enforces restrictions on the minimum particle size that can be efficiently trapped due to Abbe’s diffraction limit, scientists have managed to overcome this problem by engineering new devices that exploit near-field effects. Nowadays, metallic nanostructures can be fabricated which, under laser illumination, produce a secondary plasmonic field that does not suffer from the diffraction limit. This advance offers a great improvement in nanoparticle trapping, as it relaxes the trapping requirements compared to conventional optical tweezers although problems may arise due to thermal heating of the metallic nanostructures. This could hinder efficient trapping and damage the trapped object. In this work, we review the fundamentals of conventional optical tweezers, the so-called plasmonic tweezers, and related phenomena. Starting from the conception of the idea by Arthur Ashkin until recent improvements and applications, we present the principles of these techniques along with their limitations. Emphasis in this review is on the successive improvements of the techniques and the innovative aspects that have been devised to overcome some of the main challenges.

【 授权许可】

Unknown