Tunable potential well for plasmonic trapping of metallic particles by bowtie nano-apertures

Yu Lu, Guangqing Du, Feng Chen, Qing Yang, Hao Bian, Jiale Yong & Xun Hou

In this paper, the tunable optical trapping dependence on wavelength of incident beam is theoretically investigated based on numerical simulations. The Monte Carlo method is taken into account for exploring the trapping characteristics such as average deviation and number distribution histogram of nanoparticles. It is revealed that both the width and the depth of potential well for trapping particles can be flexibly adjusted by tuning the wavelength of the incident beam. In addition, incident wavelengths for the deepest potential well and for the strongest stiffness at bottom are separated. These phenomena are explained as the strong plasmon coupling between tweezers and metallic nanoparticles. In addition, required trapping fluence and particles’ distributions show distinctive properties through carefully modifying the incident wavelengths from 1280 nm to 1300 nm. Trapping with lowest laser fluence can be realized with 1280 nm laser and trapping with highest precision can be realized with 1300 nm laser. This work will provide theoretical support for advancing the manipulation of metallic particles and related applications such as single-molecule fluorescence and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy.

DOI