Topological insulator particles as optically induced oscillators: towards dynamical force measurements and optical rheology

Abstract

We report the first experimental study upon the optical trapping and manipulation of topological insulator (TI) particles. By virtue of the unique TI properties, which have a conducting surface and an insulating bulk, the particles present a peculiar behaviour in the presence of a single laser beam optical tweezers: they oscillate in a plane perpendicular to the direction of the laser propagation, as a result of the competition between radiation pressure and gradient forces. In other words, TI particles behave as optically induced oscillators, allowing dynamical measurements with unprecedented simplicity and purely optical control. Actually, optical rheology of soft matter interfaces and biological membranes, as well as dynamical force measurements in macromolecules and biopolymers, may be quoted as feasible possibilities for the near future.

6 pages, 5 figures. Correspondence and requests for Supplementary Material should be addressed to [email protected]

References in corpus (4)

• Probing the Casimir force with optical tweezers
• Spherical topological insulator
• Berry phases and zero-modes in toroidal topological insulator
• Shedding light onto topological insulator beads: perspectives for optical tweezing application

Cited by in corpus (6)

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• On the use of organic semiconductors as handles for optical tweezers experiments: trapping and manipulating polyaniline (PANI) microparticles
• Dual topological insulator with mirror symmetry protected helical edge states
• Equatorial magnetoplasma waves