Rectifying transport of a mixture of Brownian particles on an asymmetric periodic optical potential

Graham Milne, David McGloin, Svetlana Tatarkova, Wilson Sibbett, Kishan Dholakia

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

Optical micro-manipulation has seen a resurgence of interest in recent years which has been due in part to new application areas and the use of tailored forms of light beam. In this paper, experimental observations of fluctuation-driven transport of silica microspheres within a two-dimensional optical potential of circular symmetry are observed. The potential is created by a Bessel light beam. The optical field is tailored to break the symmetry and create a static tilted periodic (washboard) potential. Transitions between locked and running modes may be observed. The running mode manifests itself by rapid accumulation of particles at the beam centre. We discuss what happens with mixtures of particles in such an optical potential.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112-119
Number of pages8
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume5330
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2004
EventComplex Dynamics, Fluctuations, Chaos, and Fractals in Biomedical Photonics - San Jose, CA, United States
Duration: 2004 Jan 252004 Jan 25

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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