Abstract

In terms of the law of momentum conservation, the optical pulling force (OPF) is a counterintuitive phenomenon for optical manipulation. We investigate analytically and numerically the tunable OPF exerted on the low refractive index nanoparticle (NP) in a hybrid dimer system when it is illuminated by a plane wave based on the coupled dipole approximation method and the finite-difference time-domain method, respectively. The underlying physical mechanism relies on the near-field electromagnetic coupling between the low refractive index dielectric NP and the plasmonic NP. We further evaluate the dependence of the OPF on the geometrical parameters of the system. It is also numerically demonstrated that a Gaussian beam can be used to achieve pure OPF with no transverse force component. The proposed OPF offers an additional degree of freedom for optical sorting, transport, and trapping of NPs.

© 2018 Optical Society of America

Optical pulling forces and their applications

Hang Li, Yongyin Cao, Lei-Ming Zhou, Xiaohao Xu, Tongtong Zhu, Yuzhi Shi, Cheng-Wei Qiu, and Weiqiang Ding
Adv. Opt. Photon. 12(2) 288-366 (2020)

Optical pulling and pushing forces exerted on silicon nanospheres with strong coherent interaction between electric and magnetic resonances

Hongfeng Liu, Mingcheng Panmai, Yuanyuan Peng, and Sheng Lan
Opt. Express 25(11) 12357-12371 (2017)

Giant terahertz pulling force within an evanescent field induced by asymmetric wave coupling into radiative and bound modes

Hernán Ferrari, Carlos J. Zapata-Rodríguez, and Mauro Cuevas
Opt. Lett. 47(17) 4500-4503 (2022)

Optical gradient forces between evanescently coupled waveguides

Mohammad-Ali Miri, Michele Cotrufo, and Andrea Alu
Opt. Lett. 43(17) 4104-4107 (2018)

Optical pulling and pushing forces via Bloch surface waves

Natalia Kostina, Mihail Petrov, Vjaceslavs Bobrovs, and Alexander S. Shalin
Opt. Lett. 47(18) 4592-4595 (2022)