Optical trapping using transverse electromagnetic (TEM)-like mode in a coaxial nanowaveguide

Abstract

Optical traps have emerged as powerful tools for immobilizing and manipulating small particles in three dimensions. Fiber-based optical traps (FOTs) significantly simplify optical setup by creating trapping centers with single or multiple pieces of optical fibers. In addition, they inherit the flexibility and robustness of fiber-optic systems. However, trapping 10-nm-diameter nanoparticles (NPs) using FOTs remains challenging. In this study, we model a coaxial waveguide that works in the optical regime and supports a transverse electromagnetic (TEM)-like mode for NP trapping. Single NPs at waveguide front-end break the symmetry of TEM-like guided mode and lead to high transmission efficiency at far-field, thereby strongly altering light momentum and inducing a large-scale back-action on the particle. We demonstrate, via finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, that this FOT allows for trapping single 10-nm-diameter NPs at low power.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

fiber-based optical trap (FOT) / optical waveguides / optical apertures / metal nanophotonic structures / self-induced back-action / plasmonic optical trapping

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11874164), the Innovation Fund of Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics and 1000 Talent Youth Program. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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