Wave optical calculations
| Short info | | Theory and computer simulations on light propagation, light scattering in focused fields and optical trapping forces. |
| Description | Optical traps enable the manipulation of small particles (30nm-3µm) without any mechanical contact. For applications in biology and nano-technology it is important to optimize the particle’s interaction with the light from the trapping beam. In this way they can be used as a probe for scanning their local environment. Whereas dielectric materials have the advantage of not absorbing energy, semi-conductor materials and metals are attractive since they show non-linear and resonant behavior. This leads to stronger optical forces and torques inside the trap. In addition, the engineering of new field and intensity distributions will enable new applications not only for trapping and tracking, but also in high-resolution microscopy. We perform electromagnetic field calculations and simulations to investigate novel configurations for optical trapping of tiny particles, but also to find new interferometric tracking methods for them. Long experience in software development: - Arbitrary focusing of vectorial electromagnetic fields
(x-y-plane) left: scattering behind a nano-cylinder | |
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