Optomechanical detection of the transverse spin of light using anisotropic probe particles in an evanescent field and optical tweezers

Souvik Sil; Pramitha Praveen Kamath; Viet Giang Truong; Georgiy Tkachenko; Síle Nic Chormaic

doi:10.1117/12.3008337

20 September 2023 Optomechanical detection of the transverse spin of light using anisotropic probe particles in an evanescent field and optical tweezers

Souvik Sil, Pramitha Praveen Kamath, Viet Giang Truong, Georgiy Tkachenko, Síle Nic Chormaic

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 12606, Optical Manipulation and Structured Materials Conference; 126060L (2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3008337
Event: Optics and Photonics International Congress, 2023, Yokohama, Japan

Abstract

Spin angular momentum (SAM) of light only has a longitudinal component for paraxial waves, but the transverse component of the SAM can be significant in a strongly confined light field. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the spinning of an anisotropic particle – bipolar liquid crystal (LC) - by trapping it using a circularly polarized optical tweezers and observe the dependence of the particle’s spinning rate on different laser powers and different states of input polarization. Furthermore, we detect the transverse spin of light by measuring the rotation frequency of a trapped liquid crystal particle, placed in the vicinity of the evanescent field near an optical nanofiber surface using optical tweezers. This result demonstrates that the transverse spin of light can twist anisotropic particles.

Citation Download Citation

Souvik Sil, Pramitha Praveen Kamath, Viet Giang Truong, Georgiy Tkachenko, and Síle Nic Chormaic "Optomechanical detection of the transverse spin of light using anisotropic probe particles in an evanescent field and optical tweezers", Proc. SPIE 12606, Optical Manipulation and Structured Materials Conference, 126060L (20 September 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.3008337

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