Optical trapping and micromanipulation with a photonic lantern-mode multiplexer.

We demonstrate a simple approach based on a photonic lantern spatial-mode multiplexer and a few-mode fiber for optical and manipulation of multiple microspheres. Selective generation of linearly polarized (LP) fiber modes provides light patterns useful for trapping one or multiple microparticles. Furthermore, rotation of the particles can be achieved by switching between degenerate LP modes, as well as through polarization rotation of the input light.