Gradient and curl optical torques

Optical forces and torques offer the route towards full degree-of-freedom manipulation of matter. Exploiting structured light has led to the discovery of gradient and curl forces, and nontrivial optomechanical manifestations, such as negative and lateral optical forces. Here, we uncover the existenc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Xu, X., Nieto Vesperinas, Manuel, Zhou, Y., Zhang, Y., Li, M., Rodríguez-Fortuño, F.J., Yan, S., Yao, B.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/389186
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/389186
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85199340010&doi=10.1038%2fs41467-024-50440-8&partnerID=40&md5=a39ab326c0bfedfad34aec614af01747
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Nanophotonics and plasmonics
Optical manipulation and tweezers
Descripción
Sumario:Optical forces and torques offer the route towards full degree-of-freedom manipulation of matter. Exploiting structured light has led to the discovery of gradient and curl forces, and nontrivial optomechanical manifestations, such as negative and lateral optical forces. Here, we uncover the existence of two fundamental torque components, which originate from the reactive helicity gradient and momentum curl of light, and which represent the rotational analogues to the gradient and curl forces, respectively. Based on the two components, we introduce and demonstrate the concept of lateral optical torques, which act transversely to the spin of illumination. The orbital angular momentum of vortex beams is shown to couple to the curl torque, promising a path to extreme torque enhancement or achieving negative optical torques. These results highlight the intersection between the areas of structured light, Mie-tronics and rotational optomechanics, even inspiring new paths of manipulation in acoustics and hydrodynamics. © The Author(s) 2024.