Photophoretic trapping of airborne particles using ultraviolet illumination

Brandon Redding, Steven C. Hill, Dimitri Alexson, Chuji Wang, and Yong-Le Pan

We demonstrate photophoretic trapping of micron-sized absorbing particles in air using pulsed and continuous-wave (CW) ultraviolet laser illumination at wavelengths of 351 nm and 244 nm. We compared the particle trapping dynamics in two trapping geometries consisting of a hollow optical cone formed by light propagating either with or against gravity. This comparison allowed us to isolate the influence of the photophoretic force from the radiative pressure and the convective forces. We found that the absorbing spherical particles tested experienced a positive photophoretic force, whereas the spatially irregular, non-spherical particles tested experienced a negative photophoretic force. By using two trapping geometries, both spherical and non-spherical absorbing particles could be trapped and held securely in place. The position of the trapped particles exhibited a standard deviation of less than 1 µm over 20 seconds. Moreover, by operating in the UV and deep-UV where the majority of airborne materials are absorptive, the system was able to trap a wide range of particle types. Such a general purpose optical trap could enable on-line characterization of airborne particles when coupled with interrogation techniques such as Raman spectroscopy.

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