title: Stable optical trapping based on optical binding forces.
abstract: Various trapping configurations have been realized so far, either based on the scattering force or the gradient force. In this Letter, we propose a new trapping regime based on the equilibrium between a scattering force and optical binding forces only. The trap is realized from the interaction between a single plane wave and a series of fixed small particles, and is efficient at trapping multiple free particles. The effects are demonstrated analytically upon computing the exact scattering from a collection of cylindrical particles and calculating the Lorentz force on each free particle via the Maxwell stress tensor.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Tomasz M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Grzegorczyk
authors.forename: Brandon A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.forename: Jin Au
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kong