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Optics Letters

Modulated optical vortices

Jennifer E. Curtis, David G. Grier

Published Jun 1, 2003• 188 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Single-beam optical gradient force traps created by focusing helical modes of light are known as optical vortices. Modulating the helical pitch of such a mode's wave front yields a new class of optical traps whose dynamically reconfigurable intensity distributions provide new opportunities for controlling motion in mesoscopic systems. An implementation of modulated optical vortices based on the dynamic holographic optical tweezer technique is described.

DOI
10.1364/ol.28.000872

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iScience•Feb 27, 2026•0 citations
Single-beam optical gradient force traps created by focusing helical modes of light are known as optical vortices. Modulating the helical pitch of such a mode's wave front yields a new class of optical traps whose dynamically reconfigurable intensity distributions provide new opportunities for controlling motion in mesoscopic systems. An implementation of modulated optical vortices based on the dynamic holographic optical tweezer technique is described.
Single neutral atom mechanics is controllable by focused, high‐intensity optical vortices. The intensity‐dependent, laser‐driven motion of the atom's active electrons subsumes to a net transfer of the orbital angular momentum of the light to the neutral atom. The ponderomotive force on these electrons translates so into an unbounded or a bounded radial drift of the atom depending on its initial kinetic energy, as set by the temperature. Appropriate combination of laser beams results in sub‐wavelength, dynamical radial traps for tweezing atoms controllably, an effect that can be exploited for atom guiding, structuring, and lithographic applications. image
We propose a theory to explain optical trapping by optical vortices (OVs), which are emerging as important tools to trap mesoscopic particles. The common perception is that the trapping is solely due to the gradient force and that it may be characterized by three real force constants. However, we show that the OV trap can exhibit complex force constants, implying that the trapping must be stabilized by ambient damping. At different damping levels, particles exhibit remarkably different dynamics, such as stable trapping and periodic and aperiodic orbital motions.
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.