Optical Bessel tractor polarized beams on a charged sphere of arbitrary size

Renxian Li, Ping Li, Jiaming Zhang, Chunying Ding, Zhiwei Cui

Optical tractor beams can reel in an object towards the source, and are becoming a topic of significant worldwide research. Previous works considered the axial and transverse radiation pressure cross-sections (RPCSs) of optical tractor Bessel polarized beams on a dielectric sphere. However, most particles are charged, and it is important to investigate the tractor beam effect on charged particles. The aim of this work is therefore directed toward this goal, where the axial and transverse RPCSs for a charged sphere illuminated by a vector Bessel beam are computed in the framework of generalized Lorenz-Mie theory (GLMT). Numerical computations of the RPCSs are performed, with emphasis on the emergence of a negative pulling force and its dependence on the half-cone angle α0, the order l, and the polarization. A higher-order (l ≠ 0) Bessel beam possesses a hollow core and is of vortex nature, while the fundamental mode () is of non-vortex type and has a bright maximum intensity at the center of the beam. In our calculation, both and are considered. The axial PRCSs versus ka and α0 are first calculated, and the negative axial forces can arise. Moreover, the axial and transverse RPCSs in the plane perpendicular to the beam axis are computed. However, numerical results show that the RPCSs are same to that for a neutral particle. To explain this, the ratios of axial RPCSs for charged and neutral spheres are investigated taking ka as a parameter. The results show that charges only affect the RPCSs for small particles. Finally, the RPCSs for a charged sphere of relatively small are considered. The charge can affect the magnitude of the RPCSs, however, it does not affect the direction of axial optical forces. These results are of great importance in the development of novel optical tweezers and tractor beams.

DOI