• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Thursday, July 24, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Scientists achieve ultra-fast optical orbiting of nanoparticles at subdiffraction scale

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 17, 2021
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

IMAGE

Credit: IGDB

Is it possible to drive nanoparticles to orbit below the light diffraction limit using a Gaussian beam? A recent joint research project reported in Nature Communications says yes.

It is well known that light possesses not only energy but also momentum. When light irradiates an object, momentum is transferred to the object, thus generating light pressure on the object. At the microscopic scale, microparticles and nanoparticles (such as biocells and macromolecules) can be manipulated by the light force. Atoms can be cooled by light pressure to achieve atomic clocks, Bose-Einstein condensation, and so on.

In addition to the linear momentum of light being transferable, the angular momentum of light can also be transferred to an object, thus causing object rotation. Since the conversion of momentum is usually derived from the linear interaction between light and objects, the orbital rotation speed and orbital radius have so far been limited to no more than 100 Hz in water and no less than one micrometer, respectively.

Recently, however, a team led by Prof. JIANG Yuqiang from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. QIU Chengwei from the National University of Singapore, Prof. YANG Yuanjie from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and Prof. XIAO Liantuan from Shanxi University, has overcome these limits.

Based on the nonlinear optical effect, the researchers have achieved an ultra-fast orbital rotation rate for nanoparticles at the subdiffraction scale.

The researchers trapped gold nanoparticles using a circularly polarized NIR femtosecond laser beam with Gaussian mode. In the linear interaction regime, the trapped particles only spin in the beam center. In the nonlinear regime, however, an annular potential well can be formed by the effect of the “trap split,” and the tangential optical force enhanced by the nonlinear polarization between the femtosecond laser and gold nanoparticles causes the particles to orbit at an ultra-fast speed in the annular trap well.

As a result, the spin angular momentum of light is converted into the orbital angular momentum of particles with super high efficiency.

In this work, the minimum radius of rotation was about 70 nm, which is far below the diffraction limit; and the highest orbital rotation speed exceeded 1000 r/s, one order faster than previously reported speeds.

The study reveals a new mechanism of spin angular momentum conversion to orbital angular momentum, and provides a new method of light manipulation.

Since the orbital radius and orbital rotation speed can be controlled by adjusting the power of the femtosecond laser, the NA of the objective lens, and the material of the nanoparticles, it can be widely applied in various fields, such as optical micromachines, nanorheology, laser microfabrication, and so on.

###

Media Contact
JIANG Yuqiang
yqjiang@genetics.ac.cn

Related Journal Article

http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24100-0

Tags: Chemistry/Physics/Materials SciencesOpticsParticle Physics
Share13Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Architecture of VBayesMM

Unraveling Gut Bacteria Mysteries Through AI

July 4, 2025
Visulaization of ATLAS collision

Can the Large Hadron Collider Prove String Theory Right?

July 3, 2025

Breakthrough in Gene Therapy: Synthetic DNA Nanoparticles Pave the Way

July 3, 2025

Real-Time Electrochemical Microfluidic Monitoring of Additive Levels in Acidic Copper Plating Solutions for Metal Interconnections

July 3, 2025
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Blind to the Burn

    Overlooked Dangers: Debunking Common Myths About Skin Cancer Risk in the U.S.

    60 shares
    Share 24 Tweet 15
  • AI Achieves Breakthrough in Drug Discovery by Tackling the True Complexity of Aging

    70 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • USF Research Unveils AI Technology for Detecting Early PTSD Indicators in Youth Through Facial Analysis

    42 shares
    Share 17 Tweet 11
  • Dr. Miriam Merad Honored with French Knighthood for Groundbreaking Contributions to Science and Medicine

    46 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 12

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Additive Manufacturing of Monolithic Gyroidal Solid Oxide Cells

Machine Learning Uncovers Sorghum’s Complex Mold Resistance

Pathology Multiplexing Revolutionizes Disease Mapping

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.