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Updated: May 19, 2026
Optical Trapping of Nanoparticles
Published on: January 15, 2013
Optical trapping of microparticles using silicon nitride waveguide junctions and tapered-waveguide junctions on an
1Photonic Device Laboratory, Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Abstract:
We study optical trapping of microparticles on an optofluidic chip using silicon nitride waveguide junctions and tapered-waveguide junctions. We demonstrate the trapping of single 1 μm-sized polystyrene particles using the evanescent field of waveguide junctions connecting a submicrometer-sized input-waveguide and a micrometer-sized output-waveguide. Particle trapping is localized in the vicinity of the junction. We also demonstrate trapping of one and two 1μm-sized polystyrene particles using tapered-waveguide junctions connecting a submicrometer-sized singlemode input-waveguide and a micrometer-sized multimode output-waveguide. Particle trapping occurs near the taper output end, the taper center and the taper input end, depending on the taper aspect ratio.
