Experimental analysis of multiple-beam interference optical traps

Micro-particles with higher refractive index than the surrounding medium irradiated by a laser beam are pushed by optical forces towards places having the highest local optical intensity. These intensity maxima are usually created by focusing a laser beam using a microscope objective with high numerical aperture. A convenient alternative offers usage of light patterns created by an interference of collimated beams. This way tens or hundreds of optical traps are created in a spatially well-organized structure (also called as optical lattice) which is well-suited for studies of quasi-crystalline structures, targeted delivery of living cells or particle sorting and fractionation. Hereby, we investigate theoretically and experimentally properties of optical traps organized in hexagonal, rectangular and calleidoscopic structures created by interference of 3 up to 8 collimated laser beams.

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