Bykov Dmitry S, Xie Shangran, Zeltner Richard, Machnev Andrey, Wong Gordon K L, Euser Tijmen G, Russell Philip St J
1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Staudtstr. 2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
2Department of Physics, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91058 Erlangen, Germany.
Light Sci Appl. 2018 Jun 20;7:22. doi: 10.1038/s41377-018-0015-z. eCollection 2018.
Optically levitated micro- and nanoparticles offer an ideal playground for investigating photon-phonon interactions over macroscopic distances. Here we report the observation of long-range optical binding of multiple levitated microparticles, mediated by intermodal scattering and interference inside the evacuated core of a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre (HC-PCF). Three polystyrene particles with a diameter of 1 µm are stably bound together with an inter-particle distance of ~40 μm, or 50 times longer than the wavelength of the trapping laser. The levitated bound-particle array can be translated to-and-fro over centimetre distances along the fibre. When evacuated to a gas pressure of 6 mbar, the collective mechanical modes of the bound-particle array are able to be observed. The measured inter-particle distance at equilibrium and mechanical eigenfrequencies are supported by a novel analytical formalism modelling the dynamics of the binding process. The HC-PCF system offers a unique platform for investigating the rich optomechanical dynamics of arrays of levitated particles in a well-isolated and protected environment.
光悬浮的微米和纳米粒子为研究宏观距离上的光子-声子相互作用提供了一个理想的平台。在此，我们报告了对多个悬浮微粒的远程光学束缚的观测，该束缚由中空光子晶体光纤（HC-PCF）抽空的纤芯内部的模式间散射和干涉介导。三个直径为1微米的聚苯乙烯粒子以~40微米的粒子间距稳定地结合在一起，该间距比捕获激光的波长长50倍。悬浮的束缚粒子阵列可以沿着光纤在厘米距离上来回移动。当抽空至6毫巴的气压时，能够观测到束缚粒子阵列的集体机械模式。平衡时测得的粒子间距和机械本征频率得到了一种模拟束缚过程动力学的新型解析形式的支持。HC-PCF系统为在一个良好隔离和受保护的环境中研究悬浮粒子阵列丰富的光机械动力学提供了一个独特的平台。
