Optical trapping of gold aerosols

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingArticle in proceedingsResearchpeer-review

Aerosol trapping has proven challenging and was only recently demonstrated.1 This was accomplished by utilizing an air chamber designed to have a minimum of turbulence and a laser beam with a minimum of aberration. Individual gold nano-particles with diameters between 80 nm and 200 nm were trapped in air using a 1064 nm laser. The positions visited by the trapped gold nano-particle were quantified using a quadrant photo diode placed in the back focal plane. The time traces were analyzed and the trapping stiffness characterizing gold aerosol trapping determined and compared to aerosol trapping of nanometer sized silica and polystyrene particles. Based on our analysis, we concluded that gold nano-particles trap more strongly in air than similarly sized polystyrene and silica particles. We found that, in a certain power range, the trapping strength of polystyrene particles is linearly decreasing with increasing laser power.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume9548
PublisherSPIE - International Society for Optical Engineering
Publication date25 Aug 2015
Article number95480F-1
ISBN (Print)9781628417142, 9781628417142
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Aug 2015
EventOptical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XII - San Diego, United States
Duration: 9 Aug 201512 Aug 2015

Conference

ConferenceOptical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XII
LandUnited States
BySan Diego
Periode09/08/201512/08/2015

    Research areas

  • Aerosol, aerotaxy, air, gold nano-particles, laser manipulation, optical tweezers, polystyrene nano-particles, power spectral analysis

ID: 153448524