Optical Pulling and Pushing Forces via Bloch Surface Waves

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how photonic crystals can be used to control optical pulling and pushing forces via Bloch surface waves, enabling advanced nanoparticle manipulation and sorting.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method for controlling optical forces using Bloch surface waves on photonic crystals, allowing switching between pulling and pushing forces.

Findings

Enhanced optical pulling and pushing forces observed.

Switching between forces achieved via angle or wavelength tuning.

Potential for precise nanoparticle sorting demonstrated.

Abstract

Versatile manipulation of nano- and microobjects underlies the optomechanics and a variety of its applications in biology, medicine, and lab-on-a-chip platforms. For flexible tailoring optical forces, as well as for extraordinary optomechanical effects, additional degrees of freedom should be introduced into the system. Here, we demonstrate that photonic crystals provide a flexible platform for nanoparticles optical manipulation due to both Bloch surface waves (BSWs) and the complex character of the reflection coefficient paving a way for complex optomechanical interactions control. We demonstrate that appearance of enhanced pulling and pushing transversal optical forces acting on a single bead placed above a one-dimensional photonic crystal due to directional excitation of Bloch surface wave at the photonic crystal interface. Our theoretical results, which are supported with numerical simulations, demonstrate angle or wavelength assisted switching between BSW-induced optical pulling and pushing forces. Easy-to-fabricate for any desired spectral range photonic crystals are shown to be prospective for precise optical sorting of nanoparticles, especially for core-shell nanoparticles, which are difficult to sort with conventional optomechanical methods. Our approach opens opportunities for novel optical manipulation schemes and platforms and enhanced light-matter interaction in optical trapping setups.