Cancellation of non-conservative scattering forces in optical traps by counter-propagating beams

摘要

Non-conservative forces in optical tweezers generate undesirable behavior, such as particle loss due to radiation pressure and the preclusion of the thermodynamic equilibrium. Here, we rigorously derive criteria for the elimination of non-conservative forces, and describe how these criteria can be met by a large class of counter-propagating, focused optical beams. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America