Large-angular separation of particles induced by cascaded deflection angles in optical sorting
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Updated: May 8, 2026

Spatial Separation of Molecular Conformers and Clusters
Published on: January 9, 2014
1Institute of Modern Optics, Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information Science and Technology, Ministry of Education of China, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China.
Abstract:
A composite microlens array (MLA) with two cascaded guiding axes has been fabricated to achieve a large lateral separation of an object with different refractive indices or sizes. The MLA projects a composite pattern formed by its focal spots into a microchamber for optical sorting in a microscopic system. This approach enables passive, high power, efficient, and continuous microfluidic sorting without requiring complicated optical assembly. Separation of particles with different refractive indices to a lateral angle of 40° is experimentally demonstrated with moderate laser power.
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