Analyses of radiation force and torque on a spherical particle near a substrate illuminated by a focused Laguerre-Gaussian beam

We present the analyses of radiation force and torque on a spherical particle illuminated by Laguerre-Gaussian beam. Since Laguerre-Gaussian beam has angular momentum, the particle can be rotated by illumination of Laguerre-Gaussian beam. Radiation forces and torques for a silver sphere and a silicon sphere near the silver substrate are analyzed. We found that the maximum torque on silicon sphere is about five times higher than the maximum torque on silver sphere and fine control of the focused spot is required to push the particle to the substrate. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.