Optically bound colloidal lattices in evanescent optical fields

Xiang Han, Hui Luo, Guangzong Xiao, and Philip H. Jones

In this Letter, we demonstrate the formation of a stable two-dimensional lattice of colloidal particles in the interference pattern formed by four evanescent optical fields at a dielectric interface. The microspheres are observed to form a two-dimensional square lattice with lattice vectors inclined relative to the beam propagation directions. We use digital video microscopy and particle tracking to measure the Brownian motion of particles bound in the lattice, and use this to characterize fluctuations in the local ordering of particles using the bond orientational order parameter, the probability distribution of which is shown to be a chi-squared distribution. An explanation for the form of this distribution is presented in terms of fluctuations of the modes of a ring of particles connected by springs.

DOI