Theoretical investigation of the optical trapping properties of a micro-optic cubic glass structure

An enhanced ray optics model is applied to the study of the optical levitation and trapping properties of a glass cubic object. It is found that for certain highly symmetric orientations simultaneous force and torque equilibrium can exist in the lowest-order TEM00 laser beam profile. For analytical purposes, the square surfaces of the cube are divided into two identical triangular surfaces, and the interaction of the rays with these triangular surfaces simplifies the computation of the total force and torque on the cube. The technique developed can easily be extended to the study of other regular or complex structures.