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Optical trapping of selected dielectric microparticles in air
Author(s)
Haesung Park, Thomas W. LeBrun
Abstract
We demonstrate a method to trap a selected dielectric microparticle in air using radiation pressure from a single-beam gradient optical trap. Randomly scattered dielectric microparticles adhered to a glass substrate are momentarily detached using ultrasonic vibrations generated by a piezoelectric transducer (PZT). Then, the optical beam focused on a selected particle lifts it up to the optical trap while the vibrationally excited microparticles fall back to the substrate. A particle may be trapped at the nominal focus of the trapping beam or at a position above the focus (which we refer to as the levitation position) where gravity provides the restoring force. After the measurement, the trapped particle can be placed at a desired position on the substrate in a controlled manner.
Park, H.
and LeBrun, T.
(1970),
Optical trapping of selected dielectric microparticles in air, The Journal of Visualized Experiments
(Accessed May 28, 2023)