title: Mode-based microparticle conveyor belt in air-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber.
abstract: We show how microparticles can be moved over long distances and precisely positioned in a low-loss air-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber using a coherent superposition of two co-propagating spatial modes, balanced by a backward-propagating fundamental mode. This creates a series of trapping positions spaced by half the beat-length between the forward-propagating modes (typically a fraction of a millimeter). The system allows a trapped microparticle to be moved along the fiber by continuously tuning the relative phase between the two forward-propagating modes. This mode-based optical conveyor belt combines long-range transport of microparticles with a positional accuracy of 1 µm. The technique also has potential uses in waveguide-based optofluidic systems.
authors: Oliver A
authors: OA
authors: Schmidt
authors: Tijmen G
authors: TG
authors: Euser
authors: Philip St J
authors: PS
authors: Russell
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008422:Materials Testing; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000295:instrumentation*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D058608:Nanopores / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D017785:Photons; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*