Optical trapping of porous silicon nanoparticles

Our paper Optical trapping of proous silicon nanoparticles has now been published as M. G. Donato et al, Nanotechnology 22 505704 (2011).

Abstract: Silicon nanoparticles obtained by ball-milling of a 50% porosity silicon layer have been optically trapped when dispersed in a water–surfactant environment. We measured the optical force constants using linearly and radially polarized trapping beams finding a reshaping of the optical potential and an enhanced axial spring constant for the latter. These measurements open perspectives for the control and handling of silicon nanoparticles as labeling agents in biological analysis and fluorescence imaging techniques.