Abstract
Trapping and self-assembly of particles by a single photonic chiral surface wave (PCSW) in a waveguide is investigated in this work. Through rigorous calculations, stability analysis, and physical interpretation using response theory of optical force, we show that particles of arbitrary sizes, shapes, and dielectric constants can be stably trapped and assembled in the waveguide which is counterintuitive since a propagating surface wave usually exerts a pushing or pulling force on the particle and transports it. The ability of confinement is due to that the PCSW can navigate the particle and recover to its original state. Because of the unique propagating and scattering properties, there is no interaction among the particles when the particles are far away enough. Thus, the particles are independently trapped during the self-assembly process. This work provides a different approach to manipulate small particles by using the PCSW.
4 More- Received 11 January 2022
- Revised 2 April 2022
- Accepted 3 May 2022
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.105.053512
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