Nanoparticle manipulation and sorting by phased modulated interference pattern of Gaussian Evanescent Waves

Abstract

The utilization of Gaussian Evanescent Waves (GEWs) in particle manipulation provides a three-dimensional force distribution that is significantly high at the vicinity of the surface and exponentially decreases as one moves away, hence enabling 3D particle manipulation, unlike plane waves. By coherently interfering four GEWs in various phase combinations, symmetric evanescent field distributions can be obtained, which allows the manipulation of nanoparticles for many applications. With the simulation we conducted, the dynamics of various-sized spherical silicon particles in a continuously flowing liquid setup have been investigated. We present the optimal phase-delayed configurations for trapping, sorting, separating, and rotating the particles.