Mode-Symmetry-Assisted Optical Pulling by Bound States in the Continuum.

Aside from optical pushing and trapping that have been implemented successfully, the transportation of objects backward to the source by the optical pulling forces (OPFs) has attracted tremendous attention, which was usually achieved by increasing the forward momentum of light. However, the limited momentum transfer between light and object greatly constrains the amplitudes of OPFs. Here, we present a mechanism to generate strong interactions between object and background through the bound states in the continuums, which can generate large OPFs without increasing the forward momentum of light. The underlying physics is the extraction of momentum from the designed background lattice units assisted by mode symmetry. This work paves the way for extraordinary optical manipulations and shows great potential for exploring the momenta of light in media.

Homochiral Nanopropeller via Chiral Active Surface Growth.

Under the control of chiral ligand glutathione and in the presence of hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, Au deposition on Au seeds is known to give chiral nanostructures. We have previously shown that the protruding chiral patterns, as opposed to flat facets, are likely caused by active surface growth, where nonuniform ligand coverage could be responsible for the focused growth at a few active sites. By pushing the limit of such a growth mode, here, we use decahedral seeds to prepare homochiral nanopropellers with intricate patterns of deep valleys and protruding ridges. Control experiments show that the focused growth depends on the rates of Au deposition by changing either the seed concentration or the reductant concentration, consistent with the proposed mechanism. The dynamic growth competition between the ligand-deficient active sites and the ligand-rich surfaces gradually focuses the growth onto a few active sites, causing the expansion of grooves, squeezing of steep ridges, and a surprising 36° rotation of the pentagonal outline. The imbalanced deposition on the prochiral slopes is responsible for the tilted grooves, the twisted walls, and thus the well-separated and distorted blades, which become the origin of the chiroptical responses.

Inverse Optical Torques on Dielectric Nanoparticles in Elliptically Polarized Light Waves.

Elliptically polarized light waves carry the spin angular momentum (SAM), so they can exert optical torques on nanoparticles. Usually, the rotation follows the same direction as the SAM due to momentum conservation. It is counterintuitive to observe the reversal of optical torque acting on an ordinary dielectric nanoparticle illuminated by an elliptically or circularly polarized light wave. Here, we demonstrate that negative optical torques, which are opposite to the direction of SAM, can ubiquitously emerge when elliptically polarized light waves are impinged on dielectric nanoparticles obliquely. Intriguingly, the rotation can be switched between clockwise and counterclockwise directions by controlling the incident angle of light. Our study suggests a new playground to harness polarization-dependent optical force and torque for advancing optical manipulations.

Superhybrid Mode-Enhanced Optical Torques on Mie-Resonant Particles.

Circularly polarized light carries spin angular momentum, so it can exert an optical torque on the polarization-anisotropic particle by the spin momentum transfer. Here, we show that giant positive and negative optical torques on Mie-resonant (gain) particles arise from the emergence of superhybrid modes with magnetic multipoles and electric toroidal moments, excited by linearly polarized beams. Anomalous positive and negative torques on particles (doped with judicious amount of dye molecules) are over 800 and 200 times larger than the ordinary lossy counterparts, respectively. Meanwhile, a rotational motor can be configured by switching the s- and p-polarized beams, exhibiting opposite optical torques. These giant and reversed optical torques are unveiled for the first time in the scattering spectrum, paving another avenue toward exploring unprecedented physics of hybrid and superhybrid multipoles in metaoptics and optical manipulations.

Extraordinary Multipole Modes and Ultra-Enhanced Optical Lateral Force by Chirality.

Strong mode coupling and Fano resonances arisen from exceptional interaction between resonant modes in single nanostructures have raised much attention for their advantages in nonlinear optics, sensing, etc. Individual electromagnetic multipole modes such as quadrupoles, octupoles, and their counterparts from mode coupling (toroidal dipole and nonradiating anapole mode) have been well investigated in isolated or coupled nanostructures with access to high Q factors in bound states in the continuum. Albeit the extensive study on ordinary dielectric particles, intriguing aspects of light-matter interactions in single chiral nanostructures is lacking. Here, we unveil that extraordinary multipoles can be simultaneously superpositioned in a chiral nanocylinder, such as two toroidal dipoles with opposite moments, and electric and magnetic sextupoles. The induced optical lateral forces and their scattering cross sections can thus be either significantly enhanced in the presence of those multipoles with high-Q factors, or suppressed by the bound states in the continuum. This work for the first time reveals the complex correlation between multipolar effects, chiral coupling, and optical lateral force, providing a distinct way for advanced optical manipulation.

Momentum-Topology-Induced Optical Pulling Force.

We report an ingenious mechanism to obtain robust optical pulling force by a single plane wave via engineering the topology of light momentum in the background. The underlying physics is found to be the topological transition of the light momentum from a usual convex shape to a starlike concave shape in the carefully designed background, such as a photonic crystal structure. The principle and results reported here shed insightful concepts concerning optical pulling, and pave the way for a new class of advanced optical manipulation technique, with potential applications of drug delivery and cell sorting.

Chirality-assisted lateral momentum transfer for bidirectional enantioselective separation.

Lateral optical forces induced by linearly polarized laser beams have been predicted to deflect dipolar particles with opposite chiralities toward opposite transversal directions. These "chirality-dependent" forces can offer new possibilities for passive all-optical enantioselective sorting of chiral particles, which is essential to the nanoscience and drug industries. However, previous chiral sorting experiments focused on large particles with diameters in the geometrical-optics regime. Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, the robust sorting of Mie (size ~ wavelength) chiral particles with different handedness at an air-water interface using optical lateral forces induced by a single linearly polarized laser beam. The nontrivial physical interactions underlying these chirality-dependent forces distinctly differ from those predicted for dipolar or geometrical-optics particles. The lateral forces emerge from a complex interplay between the light polarization, lateral momentum enhancement, and out-of-plane light refraction at the particle-water interface. The sign of the lateral force could be reversed by changing the particle size, incident angle, and polarization of the obliquely incident light.

Subwavelength optical trapping and transporting using a Bloch mode.

Multi-functional optical manipulations, including optical trapping and transporting of subwavelength particles, are proposed using the Bloch modes in a dielectric photonic structure. We show that the Bloch modes in a periodic structure can generate a series of subwavelength trapping wells that are addressable by tuning the incident wavelength. This feature enables efficient optical trapping and transportation in a peristaltic way. Since we are using the guiding Bloch mode in a dielectric structure, rather than using plasmonic or dielectric resonant cavities, these operations are wide band and free from joule loss. The Bloch mode in a simple periodic dielectric structure provides a new platform for multi-functional optical operations and may find potential applications in nanophotonics and biomedicine.

Strong optical force and its confinement applications based on heterogeneous phosphorene pairs.

We study the plasmonic properties of face-to-face phosphorene pairs, including their optical constraints and optical gradient forces. The symmetric and anti-symmetric plasmonic modes occur due to the strong anisotropic dispersion of phosphorene. Compared with the anti-symmetric mode, the symmetric mode has a stronger optical constraint and much larger gradient force. Especially, the optical constraint of the symmetric mode can even reach as high as 96% when the two phosphorene layers are along the armchair and zigzag direction respectively. We also propose a scheme of an ultra-small phase shifter using phosphorene-based photonic devices.

Computational coherent imaging by rotating a cylindrical lens.

To overcome longitudinal sampling rate fluctuation in axial multi-image computational imaging, an effortless and high-efficient optical scanning imaging system via the rotation of single cylindrical lens (RSCL) is proposed for reconstructing the amplitude and phase information of sample. Here the cylinder is a non-axial-symmetry phase modulator for generating diffracted intensity patterns. To determine the explicit rotation angle as a core parameter in the perfect reconstruction of the light field, two-step Radon transform (TsRT) is designed to obtain accurate rotation status of the cylindrical lens with diffraction patterns at the focal plane. All rotation operations are at a lateral plane for keeping the same scale in this multiple parameter computational imaging system. As a kind of scanning imaging approach, the experiment of RSCL is greatly simplified.

Self-Induced Backaction Optical Pulling Force.

We achieve long-range and continuous optical pulling in a periodic photonic crystal background, which supports a unique Bloch mode with the self-collimation effect. Most interestingly, the pulling force reported here is mainly contributed by the intensity gradient force originating from the self-induced backaction of the object to the self-collimation mode. This force is sharply distinguished from the widely held conception of optical tractor beams based on the scattering force. Also, this pulling force is insensitive to the angle of incidence and can pull multiple objects simultaneously.

Giant and tunable optical torque for micro-motors by increased force arm and resonantly enhanced force.

Micro-motors driven by light field have attracted much attentions for their potential applications. In order to drive the rotation of a micro-motor, structured optical beams with orbital angular momentum, spin angular momentum, anisotropic medium, and/or inhomogeneous intensity distribution should be used. Even though, it is still challenge to increase the optical torques (OT) in a flexible and controllable way in case of moderate incident power. In this paper, a new scheme achieving giant optical torque is proposed by increasing both the force arm and the force amplitude with the assistance of a ring resonator. In this case, the optical torque doesn't act on the target directly by the incident beam, but is transmitted to it by rotating the ring resonator connected with it. Using the finite-difference in time-domain method, we calculate the optical torque and find that both the direction and the amplitude of the torque can be tuned flexibly by modifying the frequency, or the relative phases of the sources. More importantly, the optical torque obtained here by linearly polarized beams can be 3 orders larger than those obtained using the structured beams. This opt-mechanical-resonator based optical torque engineering system may find potential applications in optical driven micro-machines.

Plasmonic Spherical Heterodimers: Reversal of Optical Binding Force Based on the Forced Breaking of Symmetry.

The stimulating connection between the reversal of near-field plasmonic binding force and the role of symmetry-breaking has not been investigated comprehensively in the literature. In this work, the symmetry of spherical plasmonic heterodimer-setup is broken forcefully by shining the light from a specific side of the set-up instead of impinging it from the top. We demonstrate that for the forced symmetry-broken spherical heterodimer-configurations: reversal of lateral and longitudinal near-field binding force follow completely distinct mechanisms. Interestingly, the reversal of longitudinal binding force can be easily controlled either by changing the direction of light propagation or by varying their relative orientation. This simple process of controlling binding force may open a novel generic way of optical manipulation even with the heterodimers of other shapes. Though it is commonly believed that the reversal of near-field plasmonic binding force should naturally occur for the presence of bonding and anti-bonding modes or at least for the Fano resonance (and plasmonic forces mostly arise from the surface force), our study based on Lorentz-force dynamics suggests notably opposite proposals for the aforementioned cases. Observations in this article can be very useful for improved sensors, particle clustering and aggregation.

Driving many distant atoms into high-fidelity steady state entanglement via Lyapunov control.

Based on Lyapunov control theory in closed and open systems, we propose a scheme to generate W state of many distant atoms in the cavity-fiber-cavity system. In the closed system, the W state is generated successfully even when the coupling strength between the cavity and fiber is extremely weak. In the presence of atomic spontaneous emission or cavity and fiber decay, the photon-measurement and quantum feedback approaches are proposed to improve the fidelity, which enable efficient generation of high-fidelity W state in the case of large dissipation. Furthermore, the time-optimal Lyapunov control is investigated to shorten the evolution time and improve the fidelity in open systems.

Optical trapping of nanoparticles with tunable inter-distance using a multimode slot cavity.

Optical trapping of nano-objects (i.e., the nano-tweezers) has been investigated intensively. Most of those nano-tweezers, however, were focused on the trapping of a single nanoparticle, while the interactions between them were seldom considered. In this work, we propose a nano-tweezers in a slot photonic crystal cavity supporting multiple modes, where the relative positions of two trapped nanoparticles can be tuned by selective excitation of different resonant mode. Results show that both the nanoparticles are trapped at the center of the cavity when the first order mode is excited. When the incident source is tuned to the second order mode, however, these two nanoparticles push each other and are trapped stably at two separated positions. Also, the inter-distance between them can be tuned precisely by changing the relative power of the two modes. This provides a potential method to control the interactions between two nano-objects via optically tuning the separation between them, and may have applications in various related disciplinary.

Nonreciprocal Giant Magneto-Optic Effects in Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides without Magnetic Field.

Magnetic exchange field has been demonstrated to be effective in enhancing the valley splitting of monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides experimentally. However, how magnetic exchange coupling affects the magnetooptical behaviors in massive Dirac systems remains elusive. Using k⃗·p⃗ model and Kubo formula, we theoretically report that optical Hall conductivity and giant magnetooptical effects can be induced in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides even if there is no any magnetic field involved when considering magnetic exchange interaction. Such an unusual result originates from the fact that the existence of magnetic exchange coupling effectively enables the breaking of time reversal symmetry, which grants the removal of valley degeneracy and unveils the possibility of generation and manipulation of magnetooptical effects in monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides with no need for magnetic field. Our results suggest that the presence of magnetic exchange coupling of transition-metal dichalcogenides represents an alternative strategy capable of inducing magnetoopitcal effects, which can be extended to other monolayer massive Dirac systems.

Generation of long-living entanglement between two distant three-level atoms in non-Markovian environments.

In this paper, a scheme for the generation of long-living entanglement between two distant Λ-type three-level atoms separately trapped in two dissipative cavities is proposed. In this scheme, two dissipative cavities are coupled to their own non-Markovian environments and two three-level atoms are driven by the classical fields. The entangled state between the two atoms is produced by performing Bell state measurement (BSM) on photons leaving the dissipative cavities. Using the time-dependent Schördinger equation, we obtain the analytical results for the evolution of the entanglement. It is revealed that, by manipulating the detunings of classical field, the long-living stationary entanglement between two atoms can be generated in the presence of dissipation.

Substrate and Fano Resonance Effects on the Reversal of Optical Binding Force between Plasmonic Cube Dimers.

The behavior of Fano resonance and the reversal of near field optical binding force of dimers over different substrates have not been studied so far. Notably, for particle clustering and aggregation, controlling the near filed binding force can be a key factor. In this work, we observe that if the closely located plasmonic cube homodimers over glass or high permittivity dielectric substrate are illuminated with plane wave, no reversal of lateral optical binding force occurs. But if we apply the same set-up over a plasmonic substrate, stable Fano resonance occurs along with the reversal of near field lateral binding force. It is observed that during such Fano resonance, stronger coupling occurs between the dimers and plasmonic substrate along with the strong enhancement of the substrate current. Such binding force reversals of plasmonic cube dimers have been explained based on the observed unusual behavior of optical Lorentz force during the induced stronger Fano resonance and the dipole-dipole resonance. Although previously reported reversals of near field optical binding forces were highly sensitive to particle size/shape (i.e. for heterodimers) and inter-particle distance, our configuration provides much relaxation of those parameters and hence could be verified experimentally with simpler experimental set-ups.

Pulling cylindrical particles using a soft-nonparaxial tractor beam.

In order to pull objects towards the light source a single tractor beam inevitably needs to be strongly nonparaxial. This stringent requirement makes such a tractor beam somewhat hypothetical. Here we reveal that the cylindrical shape of dielectric particles can effectively mitigate the nonparaxiality requirements, reducing the incidence angle of the partial plane waves of the light beam down to 45° and even to 30° for respectively dipole and dipole-quadrupole objects. The optical pulling force attributed to the interaction of magnetic dipole and magnetic quadrupole moments of dielectric cylinders occurs due to the TE rather than TM polarization. Therefore, the polarization state of the incident beam can be utilized as an external control for switching between the pushing and pulling forces. The results have application values towards optical micromanipulation, transportation and sorting of targeted particles.

Excitation wavelength dependent fluorescence of graphene oxide controlled by strain.

Unlike conventional fluorophores, the fluorescence emission of graphene oxide (GO) sheets can shift hundreds of nanometers as the excitation wavelength increases. The excitation wavelength dependent fluorescence is referred to as a giant red-edge effect and originates in a local reorganization potential slowing down the solvation dynamics of the excited state to the same time scale as the fluorescence lifetime. The present work has discovered that out-of-plane strain in the graphene oxide sheet leads to the intra-layer interaction necessary to slow down the solvation time scale. The oxygen percentage, dopant percentage, disorder, and strain are correlated with the presence and extent of the red-edge effect in oxygen, boron, nitrogen, and fluorine doped graphene oxide. Of these commonly cited possibilities, only out-of-plane strain is directly correlated to the red-edge effect. Furthermore, it is shown that the extent of the red-edge effect, or how far the emission wavelength can shift with increasing excitation wavelength, can be tuned by the electronegativity of the dopant. The present work interprets why the giant red-edge effect is present in some GO sheets but not in other GO sheets.