Creating optical centrifuge for particle clearing and separation

Abstract

Optical centrifuge has recently experienced growing attention as a promising tool for optically manipulating various small particles in different applications such as particle clearing and separation. Herein, we report a novel optical centrifuge, which is driven by optical force arising from transverse phase gradient of light. The particle clearing and separation have been experimentally demonstrated as application examples, by using Au and polystyrene nanoparticles. The experimental results show that the optical centrifuge exhibits high performance while used for optically clearing and separating nanoparticles. For instance, its centrifuge velocity in optical clearing can reach its peak speed of 120 μm/s in a short time, which is highly desirable for optical manipulation of various particles in microfluidic systems. Importantly, it has remarkable advantages, including high speed, flexible design and ease of control, which offers a new way for versatile optical manipulation of particles in microfluidic systems.