Topologically enabled optical nanomotors
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e1602738.full.pdf
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723.09 KB
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Kaminer, Ido
Miller, Owen D.
Buljan, Hrvoje
Ilic, Ognjen
Zhen, Bo
Soljacic, Marin
Date Issued
November 2016
Journal
Science Advances
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Citation
Ilic, Ognjen et al. “Topologically Enabled Optical Nanomotors.” Science Advances 3, 6 (June 2017): e1602738 © 2017 The Authors
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Shaping the topology of light, by way of spin or orbital angular momentum engineering, is a powerful tool to manipulate matter on the nanoscale. Conventionally, such methods focus on shaping the incident beam of light and not the full interaction between the light and the object to be manipulated. We theoretically show that tailoring the topology of the phase space of the light particle interaction is a fundamentally more versatile approach, enabling dynamics that may not be achievable by shaping of the light alone. In this manner, we find that optically asymmetric (Janus) particles can become stable nanoscale motors even in a light field with zero angular momentum. These precessing steady states arise from topologically protected anticrossing behavior of the vortices of the optical torque vector field. Furthermore, by varying the wavelength of the incident light, we can control the number, orientations, and the stability of the spinning states. These results show that the combination of phase-space topology and particle asymmetry can provide a powerful degree of freedom in designing nanoparticles for optimal external manipulation in a range of nano-optomechanical applications.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics
Terms of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1126/SCIADV.1602738
