Localized efficient in-vacuum loading of ∼0.1-10 μm spherical and plate-like particles into optical traps using a...

We demonstrate a compact piezoelectric-driven micropipette launcher for localized in-vacuum delivery of nano- and microparticles into optical traps. The launcher has been integrated into multiple optical trapping setups, including a single-beam trap, a non-interfering dual beam trap, and a standing-wave dual beam trap, showcasing the versatility and ease of integration of the setup. Using the micropipette launcher, we have successfully trapped silica spheres of 170, 300 nm, 3 μm diameter, as well as 6 × 0.2 μm2β-NaYF hexagonal prisms and ∼100 nm diameter high-purity nanodiamonds. We characterize the performance of the device, including the peak acceleration, angular distribution of emitted particles, and the dependence on vertical displacement between the pipette tip and optical trap. A trapping efficiency-the fraction of launch attempts that result in something being trapped-as high as 93% is achieved for 300 nm diameter silica spheres in a counter-propagating dual beam trap, and roughly 10% of trapping events are single spheres.