Ray-optics model for optical force and torque on a spherical metal-coated Janus microparticle

Jing Liu, Chao Zhang, Yiwu Zong, Honglian Guo, and Zhi-Yuan Li

In this paper, we develop a theoretical method based on ray optics to calculate the optical force and torque on a metallo-dielectric Janus particle in an optical trap made from a tightly focused Gaussian beam. The Janus particle is a 2.8 μm diameter polystyrene sphere half-coated with gold thin film several nanometers in thickness. The calculation result shows that the focused beam will push the Janus particle away from the center of the trap, and the equilibrium position of the Janus particle, where the optical force and torque are both zero, is located in a circular orbit surrounding the laser beam axis. The theoretical results are in good agreement qualitatively and quantitatively with our experimental observation. As the ray-optics model is simple in principle, user friendly in formalism, and cost effective in terms of computation resources and time compared with other usual rigorous electromagnetics approaches, the developed theoretical method can become an invaluable tool for understanding and designing ways to control the mechanical motion of complicated microscopic particles in various optical tweezers.

DOI