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arXiv:1511.09042 · Optica

Optical trapping of nanoparticles by full solid-angle focusing

Vsevolod Salakhutdinov, Markus Sondermann, Luigi Carbone, E. Giacobino, Alberto Bramati, Gerd Leuchs

Published Oct 20, 2016• 21 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Optical dipole-traps are used in various scientific fields, including classical optics, quantum optics and biophysics. Here, we propose and implement a dipole-trap for nanoparticles that is based on focusing from the full solid angle with a deep parabolic mirror. The key aspect is the generation of a linear-dipole mode which is predicted to provide a tight trapping potential. We demonstrate the trapping of rod-shaped nanoparticles and validate the trapping frequencies to be on the order of the expected ones. The described realization of an optical trap is applicable for various other kinds of solid-state targets. The obtained results demonstrate the feasibility of optical dipole-traps which simultaneously provide high trap stiffness and allow for efficient interaction of light and matter in free space.

DOI
10.1364/optica.3.001181

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Optical dipole-traps are used in various scientific fields, including classical optics, quantum optics and biophysics. Here, we propose and implement a dipole-trap for nanoparticles that is based on focusing from the full solid angle with a deep parabolic mirror. The key aspect is the generation of a linear-dipole mode which is predicted to provide a tight trapping potential. We demonstrate the trapping of rod-shaped nanoparticles and validate the trapping frequencies to be on the order of the expected ones. The described realization of an optical trap is applicable for various other kinds of solid-state targets. The obtained results demonstrate the feasibility of optical dipole-traps which simultaneously provide high trap stiffness and allow for efficient interaction of light and matter in free space.
Abstract The prospects of employing a deep parabolic mirror as a focusing device for trapping neutral atoms in an optical dipole trap are evaluated. It is predicted that such a dipole trap will result in a deep trapping potential as well as in a small spatial spread of the atom's center of mass wave function already for a Doppler cooled atom. This strong confinement is beneficial for many applications, one of which is the increase of the interaction strength between an atom and a light field focused from full solid angle.
Our research aims at the free-space interaction of a single ion with a surrounding light field. A particularly important ingredient is the illumination of the ion from almost the full solid angle. Conventional ion traps are not built with wide open optical access as their primary design goal and are thus restricting the solid angle accessible to incoming light. By combining a reflective optical element such as a parabolic mirror with a specially designed wide open ion trap we aim to overcome this limitation.
Flexible adjustment of optical trap stiffness and the photoinduced rotation effect of multiple optical traps have broad application prospects in the quantum field. Research has shown that a flexible and controllable array of Gaussian optical traps offers the advantages of adjustable trap positions, the ability to rotate nanoparticles, the generation of distinct beam shapes through trap stiffness modulation, and simultaneous trapping of two types of nanoparticles with different refractive indices. Based on the distribution formula of the array of Gaussian beams, this study establishes the dynamic regulation of the gradient fields of arbitrary single or multiple beams within a multi-beam optical trap, thereby enabling particle rotation manipulation. This manipulation depends solely on the optical field properties of a single specialized beam.
Focusing with a 4 π parabolic mirror allows for concentrating light from nearly the complete solid angle, whereas focusing with a single microscope objective limits the angle cone used for focusing to half solid angle at maximum. Increasing the solid angle by using deep parabolic mirrors comes at the cost of adding more complexity to the mirror’s fabrication process and might introduce errors that reduce the focusing quality. To determine these errors, we experimentally examine the focusing properties of a 4 π parabolic mirror that was produced by single-point diamond turning. The properties are characterized with a single 174 Yb + ion as a mobile point scatterer. The ion is trapped in a vacuum environment with a movable high optical access Paul trap. We demonstrate an effective focal spot size of 209 nm in lateral and 551 nm in axial direction. Such tight focusing allows us to build an efficient light-matter interface. Our findings agree with numerical simulations incorporating a finite ion temperature and interferometrically measured wavefront aberrations induced by the parabolic mirror. We point at further technological improvements and discuss the general scope of applications of a 4 π parabolic mirror.
Today the interaction of light and matter on the single quantum level is a wide research field. Strong coupling between a single photon and a single atom has already been achieved with optical cavities. Here, we treat strong interaction in free space, i.e. strong interaction whilst maintaining the free space density of states of the electromagnetic field. We pursue the coupling of a properly designed single photon wave packet to a single ion aiming at an excitation probability close to unity. For this purpose a linear dipole transition of an ion localized in the focal point of a deep parabolic mirror is addressed by a collimated laser beam focused onto the ion from nearly the full solid angle. In order to reach the highest possible coupling strength, the incident vectorial light field must be matched to the radiation pattern of the corresponding atomic transition both in the spatial and in the temporal domain. Here the generation of such an incident light mode is presented.