Dynamic multiple nanoparticle trapping using metamaterial plasmonic tweezers

Optical manipulation has attracted remarkable interest owing to its versatile and noninvasive nature. However, conventional optical trapping remains inefficient in the nanoscopic world. The emergence of plasmonics in recent years has brought a revolutionary change in overcoming limitations due to diffraction and the requirements for high trapping laser powers. Among the near-field optical trapping cavity-based systems, Fano-resonant optical tweezers have a robust trapping capability. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate sequential trapping of 20nm particles through the use of metamaterial plasmonic optical tweezers. We investigate the multiple trapping via trap stiffness measurements for various trapping configurations at low and high incident laser intensities. Our plasmonic configuration could be used as a light-driven nanoscale sorting device under low laser excitation. Our results provide an alternative approach to trap multiple nanoparticles at distinct hotspots, enabling ways to control mass transport on the nanoscale.

Automated summary

This work demonstrates the sequential trapping of 20nm particles using metamaterial plasmonic optical tweezers, with the investigation of multiple trapping via trap stiffness measurements for various trapping configurations. The plasmonic configuration could be utilized as a light-driven nanoscale sorting device, offering an alternative method to trap multiple nanoparticles at distinct hotspots and control mass transport on the nanoscale.