Chapter 9 Rotation of Particles in Optical Tweezers
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Optical tweezers were pioneered by Ashkin and colleagues in the 1980s [4], working in Bell Labs. They utilized the gradient force associated with a very tightly focused laser beam to create a potential well, such that any nearby dielectric particle experiences an attractive force toward the beam focus. In competition with the gradient force are the scattering force, which acts in the direction of propagation of the light, and the force due to gravity. For micron-sized particles, a single focused laser beam can produce a gradient force that is greater than the scattering force and force due to gravity and hence is sufficient ...
Get Structured Light and Its Applications now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
