Size-selective optical forces for microspheres using evanescent wave excitation of whispering gallery modes

Abstract

We show that when a microsphere is illuminated by an evanescent wave, the optical forces on- and off- whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonance can differ by several orders of magnitude. Such size selective force allows one to selectively manipulate the resonating particles, while leaving those particles at off-resonance untouched. As WGM resonances have very high-Q's, this kind of force could be deployed for size-selective manipulation with a very high accuracy (~1/Q), as well as simultaneous particle-sorting according to their size or resonant frequency.

11 pages, 2 figures

References in corpus (3)

• Actuation of Micro-Optomechanical Systems Via Cavity-Enhanced Optical Dipole Forces
• Photonic Clusters
• Strong optical force induced by morphology dependent resonances

Cited by in corpus (7)

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• Sizable electromagnetic forces in parallel-plate metallic cavity
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• Acoustic angular sorting of resonant subwavelength particles
• Microwave induced elastic deformation of a metallic thin film