Paper
18 October 2004 Light-torqued nanomotors free of a surface
Keith D. Bonin, W. Andrew Shelton, Thad G. Walker
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
We use polarized light to generate light torques for controlling nanoparticles and for producing nanomotors. We report on experiments where we apply light torques to glass nanorods in an optical trap at a known distance from a nearby surface. We tried two different optical traps: (1) a standing wave trap using 20 mW and (2) a single beam trap using 80 mW of light at wavelength 514 nm from an Ar+ laser. The rods studied here are 250-500 nm in diameter and are 1-4 microns long. The motion of the rotating rods is studied and a theoretical model of the motion is presented. The motion can be heavily affected by the presence of a nearby surface. For example, past studies have provided evidence that rotatory motion near a surface can change to rocking motion and vice versa. In this study, we present results of motion free of such surface effects. Studies of the motion of nano-objects are useful in understanding nanorheological phenomena in both biological and inorganic systems.
© (2004) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Keith D. Bonin, W. Andrew Shelton, and Thad G. Walker "Light-torqued nanomotors free of a surface", Proc. SPIE 5514, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation, (18 October 2004); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.559572
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KEYWORDS
Particles

Optical tweezers

Nanorods

Polarization

Glasses

Beam splitters

Image analysis

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