Colloidal transport in twisted lattices of optical tweezers

TL;DR

This study simulates colloidal particle transport in twisted optical tweezer lattices, revealing how flat channels at magic angles enable controlled transport under weak forces.

Contribution

It introduces a simulation framework for colloidal transport in twisted optical lattices and identifies the role of magic angles in facilitating percolating channels.

Findings

Flat channels emerge due to negative interference in the optical potential.

At magic angles, channels percolate system-wide, enabling particle transport.

Transport efficiency depends on lattice geometry and twist angle.

Abstract

We simulate the transport of colloidal particles driven by a static and homogeneous drift force, and subject to the optical potential created by two lattices of optical tweezers. The lattices of optical tweezers are parallel to each other, shifted, and rotated by a twist angle. Due to a negative interference between the potential of the two lattices, flat channels appear in the total optical potential. At specific twist angles, known as magic-angles, the flat channels percolate the entire system and the colloidal particles can then be transported using a weak external drift force. We characterize the transport in both square and hexagonal lattices of twisted optical tweezers