Tuning the Stiffness Asymmetry of Optical Tweezers via Polarization Control
arXiv:1509.05908 · doi:10.3938/jkps.68.762
Abstract
Optical tweezers that utilize a highly focused, linearly polarized laser beam exhibit strong trap stiffness asymmetry, which originates from the anisotropic field distribution in the transverse plane. Based on the previous study of polarization-dependent focused field distribution, we explore its manifestation in optical trap in terms of trap stiffness asymmetry. Our results demonstrate that polarization control provides a versatile tuning knob for tailoring optical potential landscape even in case of a strongly modified focused field in the presence of dielectric spheres larger than the wavelength of a trap beam.
The previous manuscript has been substantially revised including the title. In this manuscript, we focused on the experimental demonstration of the subject with additional measurements. Theoretical part was removed and presented in arXiv:1510.02887