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iScience

Dynamic modulation of optical potential wells and rotating nanoparticles by radiation force

Jingjing Su, Nan Li, Chuyun Jin, Xingfan Chen, Huizhu Hu

Published Feb 27, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1016/j.isci.2026.115169

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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.
This paper proposes a flexible scheme to form various optical multi-well traps for cold atoms or molecules by using a simple optical system composed of an compounded amplitude cosine-only grating and a single lens illuminated by a plane light wave or a Gaussian beam. Dynamic manipulation and evolution of multi-well trap can be easily implemented by controlling the modulation frequency of the cosine patterns. It also discusses how to expand this multi-well trap to two-dimensional lattices with single- or multi-well trap by using an orthogonally or non-orthogonally modulated grating, as well as using incoherent multi-beam illumination, and these results show that all the symmetric structures of two-dimensional Bravais lattices can be obtained facilely by using proposed scheme.
Neutral atoms trapped by laser light are among the most promising candidates for storing and processing information in a quantum computer or simulator. The application certainly calls for a scalable and flexible scheme for addressing and manipulating the atoms. We have now made this a reality by implementing a fast and versatile method to dynamically control the position of neutral atoms trapped in optical tweezers. The tweezers result from a spatial light modulator (SLM) controlling and shaping a large number of optical dipole-force traps. Trapped atoms adapt to any change in the potential landscape, such that one can rearrange and randomly access individual sites within atom-trap arrays.
The optical trap potential is studied in a four-level double-Λ closed-loop atomic system in the multiphoton resonance condition. We apply four femtosecond Gaussian laser beams to generate a closed-loop configuration. It is shown that the induced optical dipole force on the system dramatically depends on the relative phase of applied fields, and it switches from focusing to defocusing in the transverse direction, simply by properly changing the relative phase. Through special switching of the relative phase, the trapping potential splits into two positions, which has novel applications in trapping and manipulating the particles. Moreover, it is further demonstrated that trap depth can be manipulated by the relative phase. Finally, a maximum coherent population transfer is achieved for a special value of the relative phase of applied fields.
Realizing a large-scale fully controllable quantum system is a challenging task in current physical research and has broad applications. Ultracold atom and molecule arrays in optical tweezers in vacuum have been used for quantum simulation, quantum metrology and quantum computing. Recently, quantum ground state cooling of the center-of-mass motion of a single optically levitated nanoparticle in vacuum was demonstrated, providing unprecedented opportunities for studying macroscopic quantum mechanics and precision measurements. In this work, we create a reconfigurable optically-levitated nanoparticle array in vacuum. Our optically-levitated nanoparticle array allows full control of individual nanoparticles to form an arbitrary pattern and detect their motion. As a concrete example, we choose two nanoparticles without rotation signals from an array to synthesize a nanodumbbell in-situ by merging them into one trap. The nanodumbbell synthesized in-situ can rotate beyond 1 GHz. Our work provides a new platform for studying macroscopic many-body physics.
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Realizing a large-scale fully controllable quantum system is a challenging task in current physical research and has broad applications. In this work, we create a reconfigurable optically levitated nanoparticle array in vacuum. Our optically levitated nanoparticle array allows full control of individual nanoparticles to form an arbitrary pattern and detect their motion. As a concrete example, we choose two nanoparticles without rotation signals from an array to synthesize a nanodumbbell in situ by merging them into one trap. The nanodumbbell synthesized in situ can rotate beyond 1 GHz. Our work provides a platform for studying macroscopic many-body physics and quantum sensing.