Plasmon-Based Optical Trapping of Polymer Nano-Spheres as Explored by Confocal Fluorescence Microspectroscopy: A Possible Mechanism of a Resonant Excitation Effect

Tatsuya Shoji, Yoshihiko Mizumoto, Hajime Ishihara, Noboru Kitamura, Mai Takase, Kei Murakoshi, and Yasuyuki Tsuboi

In optical trapping using photon force much enhanced by localized surface plasmon (LSP) in solution, we found that a resonant excitation effect can further enhance photon force. In this LSP-based optical trapping under a resonant excitation condition, an incident laser beam excites both LSP and electronic resonant transition of a target object simultaneously. Fluorescence microspectroscopy clearly showed that nanospheres under the resonant condition were much more efficiently trapped as compared to that under a non-resonant condition. The resonant LSP-based trapping mechanism was further reinforced by theoretical calculations taking the resonant excitation effect into account. Such resonant LSP-based trapping methodology will provide a novel approach for efficient trapping of small molecules.

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