Bessel-modulated autofocusing beams for optimal trapping implementation

Abstract

Abruptly autofocusing beams were proposed and tested for a variety of applications such as optical manipulation, yet their trapping performance associated with the optical forces and trap stiffness remains largely unexplored. In this work, we design and demonstrate specially modulated autofocusing beams. We theoretically and experimentally show improved properties of such beams and their trapping capabilities as compared to their unmodulated counterparts. In particular, an autofocusing beam tailored with a Bessel function exhibits a shorter focal length and a much stronger peak intensity than that of an unmodulated circular Airy beam. Moreover, we perform optical tweezer experiments using both the modulated and unmodulated autofocusing beams to trap microbeads and red blood cells for direct comparison, and find that the Bessel-modulated beam displays an enhanced trapping capability, thanks to a stronger optical trapping force due to its peculiar intensity landscape. Compared with the conventional circular Airy beams, optical tweezers based on our modulated autofocusing beams exhibit a superior performance, which may lead to new photonic tools for optical trapping and manipulation.