Lateral chirality-sorting optical forces
Abstract
In light of the difficulty often associated with sorting and characterizing materials by chirality, new research aimed toward the development of passive optical methods has stirred considerable excitement at the interface of analytical chemistry and physical optics. We describe here a mechanism through which chirality-sorting optical forces emerge through the interaction with the spin-angular momentum of light, a property that the community has recently learned to control with great sophistication using modern nanophotonics. In particular, the forces may be oriented perpendicularly to the propagation direction of evanescent waves, leading to a helicity-dependent lateral deflection of chiral particles in opposite directions. The highly unusual transverse optical force described herein is the strongest of its kind discovered so far to our knowledge.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Oct 09, 2015
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1516704112
Entities
People
- Amaury Hayat
- Federico Capasso
- J P Balthasar Mueller
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Harvard University
- École polytechnique