A new study of light by UCF optics and photonics researchers has detected a type of force that can push particles sideways, opening up new prospects for applications in biology, colloidal physics, chemistry and other fields.
Aside from just carrying information 麻豆精品 S� the most efficient transfer of information today is through optical fibers 麻豆精品 S� light can also produce mechanical action. In the cover story for the current edition of Nature Photonics, the research team has shown that when the symmetry of scattered light is broken, the newly detected type of force appears and pushes sideways small particles floating on a surface.
This force is different from the usual push away from a source of light. A comet 麻豆精品 S檚 tail, for instance, points away from the sun because of the light 麻豆精品 S檚 pressure 麻豆精品 S� whether the comet is approaching or has passed by.
The research, 麻豆精品 S�Dynamic consequences of optical spin-orbit interaction, 麻豆精品 S� has demonstrated that light forces do not necessarily push forward, adding to the team 麻豆精品 S檚 research two years ago that showed light can also pull small objects in a manner similar to a 麻豆精品 S渢ractor-beam, 麻豆精品 S� said Aristide Dogariu, one of the team members and a UCF Pegasus professor of optics and photonics.
These unusual opto-mechanical effects provide new possibilities for efficient manipulation of microparticles, Dogariu said.
麻豆精品 S淥ur work is fundamental. It establishes the physics of a new type of forces acting at interfaces, 麻豆精品 S� he said. 麻豆精品 S淭he next step would be to implement this type of optical control for applications in drug delivery, chemical engineering of soft condensed matter, etcetera. 麻豆精品 S�
Other authors on the study are research scientist Sergey Sukhov and Ph.D. student Veerachart Kajorndejnukul, also from CREOL (Center for Research and Education in Optics and Lasers) in UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 College of Optics and Photonics, and Ph.D. student Roxana Rezvani Naraghi from the Department of Physics.
The study was partially funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.