Morphology-independent general-purpose optical surface tractor beam.

ABSTRACT: Optical tractor beams capable of pulling particles backward have garnered significant and increasing interest. Traditional optical tractor beams are limited to free space beams with small forward wavevectors, enabling them to pull selected particles. Here, we present a comprehensive theory for the optical force exerted by a surface wave using analytical and numerical calculations, revealing the relationship between the canonical momentum and optical forces. Based on this theory, we demonstrate a general purpose optical surface tractor beam that can pull any passive particle, regardless of size, composition, or geometry. The tractor beam utilizes a surface wave with negative canonical momentum characterized by a single well-defined negative Bloch k vector. The tractor beam relies on a mecha

SUBMITTER: Wang N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11315692 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature