Open AccessOptical sorting of dielectric Rayleigh spherical particles with scattering and standing waves
Author(s) -
Adrian Neild,
Tuck Wah Ng,
Winston Yii
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.17.005321
Subject(s) - rayleigh scattering , optics , optical force , sorting , dielectric , scattering , brownian motion , mie scattering , particle (ecology) , light scattering , optical tweezers , viscosity , standing wave , forward scatter , physics , materials science , optoelectronics , computer science , oceanography , quantum mechanics , programming language , geology
An all optical method for dielectric Rayleigh particle sorting possesses significant advantages. Here, we describe an approach that applies optical scattering forces to translate varied sized particles differentially from a surface followed by the introduction of an optical standing wave to maintain and tighten the positional tolerance of the differentiated particles in the medium. Numerical simulation demonstrates the workability of this scheme; which is highly dependent on Brownian forces typically dominant at this length scale. It also shows the significant impact of temperature and medium viscosity on the operation of this technique.