arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N. R. Heckenberg.
Optical trapping is a widely used technique, with many important applications in biology and metrology. Complete modelling of trapping requires calculation of optical forces, primarily a scattering problem, and non-optical forces. The T-matrix method is used to calculate forces acting on spheroidal and cylindrical particles.
In recent years there has been an explosive development of interest in the measurement of forces at the microscopic level, such as within living cells, as well as the properties of fluids and suspensions on this scale, using optically trapped particles as probes. The next step would be to measure torques and associated rotational motion. This would allow measurement on very small scales since no translational motion is needed. It could also provide an absolute measurement of the forces holding a stationary non-rotating particle in place. The laser-induced torque acting on an optically trapped microscopic birefringent particle can be used for these measurements. Here we present a new method for simple, robust, accurate, simultaneous measurement of the rotation speed of a laser trapped birefringent particle, and the optical torque acting on it, by measuring the change in angular momentum of the light from passing through the particle. This method does not depend on the size or shape of the particle or the laser beam geometry, nor does it depend on the properties of the surrounding medium. This could allow accurate measurement of viscosity on a microscopic scale.
Optical tweezers are widely used for the manipulation of cells and their internal structures. However, the degree of manipulation possible is limited by poor control over the orientation of trapped cells. We show that it is possible to controllably align or rotate disc shaped cells - chloroplasts of Spinacia oleracea - in a plane polarised Gaussian beam trap, using optical torques resulting predominantly from circular polarisation induced in the transmitted beam by the non-spherical shape of the cells.
Effective surface-passivation of PbS nanocrystals in aqueous colloidal solution has been achieved following treatment with CdS precursors. The resultant photoluminescent emission displays two distinct components, one originating from the absorption band-edge and the other from above the absorption band-edge. We show that both of these components are strongly polarised but display distinctly different behaviours. The polarisation arising from the band-edge shows little dependence on the excitation energy while the polarisation of the above-band-edge component is strongly dependent on the excitation energy. In addition, time resolved polarisation spectroscopy reveals that the above-band-edge polarisation is restricted to the first couple of nanoseconds, while the band-edge polarisation is nearly constant over hundreds of nanoseconds. We recognise an incompatibility between the two different polarisation behaviours, which enables us to identify two distinct types of surface-passivated PbS nanocrystal.
The route to chaos as the pump power is raised in the Lorenz-like ammonia laser is studied using transients and compared with the route which is expected in the Lorenz Haken equations. The differences between the routes to chaos, as normally displayed by the experimental system and the Lorenz Haken equations, is described in terms of the bifurcations experienced in each system. It is also shown that the experimental system has a small parameter regime where the route to chaos is the same as in the Lorenz Haken equations.