Gradient and curl optical torques.

Optical forces and torques offer the route towards full degree-of-freedom manipulation of matter. Exploiting structured light has led to the discovery of gradient and curl forces, and nontrivial optomechanical manifestations, such as negative and lateral optical forces. Here, we uncover the existence of two fundamental torque components, which originate from the reactive helicity gradient and momentum curl of light, and which represent the rotational analogues to the gradient and curl forces, respectively.

Observation of high-order imaginary Poynting momentum optomechanics in structured light.

The imaginary Poynting momentum (IPM) of light has been captivated as an unusual origin of optical forces. However, the IPM force is predicted only for dipolar magnetoelectric particles that are hardly used in optical manipulation experiments. Here, we report a whole family of high-order IPM forces for not only magnetoelectric but also generic Mie particles, assisted with their excited higher multipoles within.

The complex Maxwell stress tensor theorem: The imaginary stress tensor and the reactive strength of orbital momentum. A novel scenery underlying electromagnetic optical forces.

We uncover the existence of a universal phenomenon concerning the electromagnetic optical force exerted by light or other electromagnetic waves on a distribution of charges and currents in general, and of particles in particular. This conveys the appearence of underlying reactive quantities that hinder radiation pressure and currently observed time-averaged forces. This constitutes a novel paradigm of the mechanical efficiency of light on matter, and completes the landscape of the optical, and generally electromagnetic, force in photonics and classical electrodynamics; widening our understanding in the design of both illumination and particles in optical manipulation without the need of increasing the illuminating power, and thus lowering dissipation and heating.

Inverse Optical Torques on Dielectric Nanoparticles in Elliptically Polarized Light Waves.

Elliptically polarized light waves carry the spin angular momentum (SAM), so they can exert optical torques on nanoparticles. Usually, the rotation follows the same direction as the SAM due to momentum conservation. It is counterintuitive to observe the reversal of optical torque acting on an ordinary dielectric nanoparticle illuminated by an elliptically or circularly polarized light wave.

Superhybrid Mode-Enhanced Optical Torques on Mie-Resonant Particles.

Circularly polarized light carries spin angular momentum, so it can exert an optical torque on the polarization-anisotropic particle by the spin momentum transfer. Here, we show that giant positive and negative optical torques on Mie-resonant (gain) particles arise from the emergence of superhybrid modes with magnetic multipoles and electric toroidal moments, excited by linearly polarized beams. Anomalous positive and negative torques on particles (doped with judicious amount of dye molecules) are over 800 and 200 times larger than the ordinary lossy counterparts, respectively.

Extraordinary Multipole Modes and Ultra-Enhanced Optical Lateral Force by Chirality.

Strong mode coupling and Fano resonances arisen from exceptional interaction between resonant modes in single nanostructures have raised much attention for their advantages in nonlinear optics, sensing, etc. Individual electromagnetic multipole modes such as quadrupoles, octupoles, and their counterparts from mode coupling (toroidal dipole and nonradiating anapole mode) have been well investigated in isolated or coupled nanostructures with access to high Q factors in bound states in the continuum. Albeit the extensive study on ordinary dielectric particles, intriguing aspects of light-matter interactions in single chiral nanostructures is lacking.

Momentum-Topology-Induced Optical Pulling Force.

We report an ingenious mechanism to obtain robust optical pulling force by a single plane wave via engineering the topology of light momentum in the background. The underlying physics is found to be the topological transition of the light momentum from a usual convex shape to a starlike concave shape in the carefully designed background, such as a photonic crystal structure. The principle and results reported here shed insightful concepts concerning optical pulling, and pave the way for a new class of advanced optical manipulation technique, with potential applications of drug delivery and cell sorting.

Azimuthal Imaginary Poynting Momentum Density.

The momentum of light beams can possess azimuthal densities, circulating around the beam axis and inducing intriguing mechanical effects in local light-matter interaction. Belinfante's spin momentum loops in circularly polarized beams, while the canonical momentum spirals in helically phased beams. However, a similar behavior of their imaginary counterpart, the so-called imaginary Poynting momentum (IPM), has not yet emerged.

Optical manipulation from the microscale to the nanoscale: fundamentals, advances and prospects.

Since the invention of optical tweezers, optical manipulation has advanced significantly in scientific areas such as atomic physics, optics and biological science. Especially in the past decade, numerous optical beams and nanoscale devices have been proposed to mechanically act on nanoparticles in increasingly precise, stable and flexible ways. Both the linear and angular momenta of light can be exploited to produce optical tractor beams, tweezers and optical torque from the microscale to the nanoscale.

Optical Chirality of Time-Harmonic Wavefields for Classification of Scatterers.

We derive expressions for the scattering, extinction and conversion of the chirality of monochromatic light scattered by bodies which are characterized by a T-matrix. In analogy to the conditions obtained from the conservation of energy, these quantities enable the classification of arbitrary scattering objects due to their full, i.e.

Self-Induced Backaction Optical Pulling Force.

We achieve long-range and continuous optical pulling in a periodic photonic crystal background, which supports a unique Bloch mode with the self-collimation effect. Most interestingly, the pulling force reported here is mainly contributed by the intensity gradient force originating from the self-induced backaction of the object to the self-collimation mode. This force is sharply distinguished from the widely held conception of optical tractor beams based on the scattering force.

Chiral optical fields: a unified formulation of helicity scattered from particles and dichroism enhancement.

We establish a general unified formulation which, using the optical theorem of electromagnetic helicity, shows that dichorism is a phenomenon arising in any scattering-or diffraction-process, elastic or not, of chiral electromagnetic fields by objects either chiral or achiral. It is shown how this approach paves the way to overcoming well-known limitations of standard circular dichroism, like its weak signal or the difficulties of using it with magnetodielectric particles. Based on the angular spectrum, representation of optical fields with only right circular or left circular plane waves, we introduce beams with transverse elliptic polarization and possessing a longitudinal component.

Optical torque on small bi-isotropic particles.

We establish the equations for the time-averaged optical torque on dipolar bi-isotropic particles. Due to the interference of the scattered fields, it has a term additional to the one that is commonly employed in theory and experiments. Its consequences for conservation of energy, angular momentum, and effects like negative torques are discussed.

Optical forces from evanescent Bessel beams, multiple reflections, and Kerker conditions in magnetodielectric spheres and cylinders.

In this work we address, first, the optical force on a magnetodielectric particle on a flat dielectric surface due to an evanescent Bessel beam and, second, the effects on the force of multiple scattering with the substrate. For the first question we find analytical solutions showing that due to the interference of the excited electric and magnetic particle dipoles, the vertical force unusually pushes the object out from the plane. The incident wavelength rules whether or not the illumination constitutes an optical trap.

Optical binding of cylinder photonic molecules in the near field of partially coherent fluctuating Gaussian Schell model sources: a coherent mode representation.

We present a theory and computation method of radiation pressure from partially coherent light by establishing a coherent mode representation of the radiation forces. This is illustrated with the near field emitted from a Gaussian Schell model source, mechanically acting on a single cylinder with magnetodielectric behavior, or on a photonic molecule constituted by a pair of such cylinders. Thus after studying the force produced by a single particle, we address the effects of the spatial coherence on the bonding and antibonding states of two particles.

On two definitions of the three-dimensional degree of polarization in the near field of statistically homogeneous partially coherent sources.

We investigate the role of the source coherence length in the two alternative definitions, [Phys. Rev. E 66, 016615 (2002)] and [Opt.

Optical forces on small particles from partially coherent light.

We put forward a theory on the optical force exerted upon a dipolar particle by a stationary and ergodic partially coherent light field. We show through a rigorous analysis that the ensemble averaged electromagnetic force is given in terms of a partial gradient of the space-variable diagonal elements of the coherence tensor. Further, by following this result we characterize the conservative and nonconservative components of this force.

Near-field spatial correlations from partially coherent homogeneous planar sources: effects on surface wave excitation.

We show that an increase of the coherence length of a statistically homogeneous planar source diminishes the contribution of surface waves to the spatial coherence of the near field, as well as producing changes in the enhancement of the near-field spectrum.

Fast analytical approximation for arbitrary geometries in diffuse optical tomography.

Diffuse optical tomography is a novel imaging technique that resolves and quantifies the optical properties of objects buried in turbid media. Typically, numerical solutions of the diffusion equation are employed to construct the tomographic problem when media of complex geometries are investigated. Numerical methods offer implementation simplicity but also significant computation burden, especially when large three-dimensional reconstructions are involved.

Enhanced optical forces between coupled resonant metal nanoparticles.

We investigate numerically the optical forces between noble metal nanoparticles sustaining localized surface plasmon resonances. Our results first point out enhanced binding optical forces compared with dielectric nanoparticles and nonresonant metallic nanoparticles. We also show that under suitable illumination conditions, short-range forces tend to make the nanoparticles cluster, leading to intense and localized hot spots in the interstices.

Local-field enhancement in an optical force metallic nanotrap: application to single-molecule spectroscopy.

We study the local-field enhancement in a nanocavity created by optical nanomanipulation. Recently we showed that a metallic probe can modify the optical force experienced by a metallic particle and generate a material selective trapping potential. We show that the same configuration used for optical forces can be used to control both in magnitude and tune the local-field enhancement around the particle at resonance.

Tunable optical sorting and manipulation of nanoparticles via plasmon excitation.

We numerically investigate the optical forces exerted by an incident light beam on Rayleigh metallic particles over a dielectric substrate. In analogy with atom manipulation, we identify two different trapping regimes depending on whether the illumination is performed within the plasmon band or out of it. By adjusting the incident wavelength, the particles can be selectively guided, or immobilized, at the substrate interface.

Problem of image superresolution with a negative-refractive-index slab.

By means of the angular spectrum representation of wave fields, a discussion is given on the propagation and restoration of the wave-front structure in a slab of a left-handed medium (or negative-index medium) whose surface impedance matches that of vacuum, namely, one whose effective optical parameters are n = epsilon = mu = -1. This restoration was previously discussed [Phys. Rev.

Optical trapping and manipulation of nano-objects with an apertureless probe.

We propose a novel way to trap and manipulate nano-objects above a dielectric substrate using an apertureless near-field probe. A combination of evanescent illumination and light scattering at the probe apex is used to shape the optical field into a localized, three-dimensional optical trap. We use the coupled-dipole method and the Maxwell stress tensor to provide a self-consistent description of the optical force, including retardation and the influence of the substrate.