Structured Light and Its Applications

Chapter 7 Atomic and Molecular Manipulation Using Structured Light

Mohamed Babiker¹, David L. Andrews²,

¹University of York, UK

²University of East Anglia, UK

7.1 INTRODUCTION

Optical manipulation is a field that encompasses a wide range of well-attested mechanisms and methods. The mechanisms that are most prominent in any specific system are primarily dictated by the size of the target particles. The particle size, in turn, determines the nature of the physical system in which such effects can be observed; the scale of size for optical tweezers and allied methods runs up to a significant fraction of the beam width. Microscopic particles such as cells and polymer beads represent optically controllable particles at this higher limit of size ...