Radiation force of coherent and partially coherent flat-topped beams on a Rayleigh particle

Propagations of coherent and partially coherent flat-topped beams through a focusing optical system are formulated. The radiation force on a Rayleigh dielectric sphere induced by focused coherent and partially coherent flat-topped beams is investigated theoretically. It is found that we can increase the transverse trapping range at the planes near the focal plane by increasing the flatness (i.e., beam order) of the flat-topped beam, and increase the transverse and longitudinal trapping ranges at the focal plane by decreasing the initial coherence of the flat-topped beam. Moreover the trapping stiffness of flat-topped beam becomes lower as the beam order increases or the initial coherence decreases. The trapping stability is also analyzed. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America