UCL Science Article

A short article on optical trapping called 'Light Forces' written by Susan and Phil is published in the 2010 issue of UCL Science for Schools magazine.

UCL Science is mailed to Schools and Colleges on the UCAS mailing list.  For extra copies contact the editor.

SPIE Conference Proceedings

Conference proceedings 'Plasmon-enhanced optical trapping of metal nanoparticles: force calculations and light-driven rotations of nanoaggregates' published as O. M. Maragò et al Proc. SPIE Vol. 7762, 77622Z (2010). 

Abstract:  We investigate experimentally and theoretically plasmon-enhanced optical trapping of metal nanoparticles. We calculate the optical forces on gold and silver nanospheres through a procedure based on the Maxwell stress tensor in the transition T-matrix formalism. We compare our calculations with experimental results finding excellent agreement. We also demonstrate how light-driven rotations can be generated and detected in non-symmetric nanorods aggregates. Analyzing the motion correlations of the trapped nanostructures, we measure with high accuracy both the optical trapping parameters, and the rotation frequency induced by the radiation pressure.

The paper included some work done with our Royal Society IJP was presented at  the conference Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation VII by Onofrio Maragò.

Visit by Onofrio Marago

Onofrio Marago (NanoSoft Lab, IPCF-CNR, Messina) is visiting the group this week.  Onofrio has a long-running collaboration with the Optical Tweezers Group and exchange visits between UCL and NanoSoft Lab are presently funded by our Royal Society International Joint Project.

New Group Members

Muhammad Abdul Khudus has joined the group for his MSc project.  Muhammad gained his first degree from Imperial College and will be working on a project on nano-optics.