Temperature-Controlled Dual-Beam Optical Trap for Single Particle Studies of Organic Aerosol

An optical trapping cell that is capable of suspending particles using two counter-propagating beams in a temperature-controlled environment is reported here. With this dual-beam optical trap, we are able to hold single micron-sized droplets at temperatures down to 253 K (-20 °C) for hours at a time and in metastable (supercooled) states. As particles are trapped at the shared focal points of two intense beams, strong cavity-enhanced Raman scattering (CERS) is observed and allows for high precision measurements of physical properties. Here, the evaporation of highly oxygenated organic systems was monitored using CERS and was used to determine temperature-dependent vapor pressures and enthalpies of vaporization. The wavelength- and temperature-dependent optical properties were also simultaneously retrieved using CERS.