Transverse optical gradient force in untethered rotating metaspinners  

作　　者：Einstom Engay Mahdi Shanei Vasilii Mylnikov Gan Wang Peter Johansson Giovanni Volpe Mikael Kall 

机构地区：[1]Department of Physics,Chalmers University of Technology,41296 Gothenburg,Sweden [2]Department of Physics,University of Gothenburg,41296 Gothenburg,Sweden [3]School of Science and Technology,Orebro University,70182Orebro,Sweden

出　　处：《Light(Science & Applications)》2025年第2期344-355,共12页光(科学与应用)(英文版)

基　　金：Open access funding provided by Chalmers University of Technology.

摘　　要：Nanostructured dielectric metasurfaces offer unprecedented opportunities to control light-matter momentum exchange,and thereby the forces and torques that light can exert on matter.Here we introduce optical metasurfaces as components of ultracompact untethered microscopic metaspinners capable of efficient light-induced rotation in a liquid environment.Iluminated by weakly focused light,a metaspinner generates torque via photon recoil through the metasurfaces'ability to bend light towards high angles despite their sub-wavelength thickness,thereby creating orbital angular momentum.We find that a metaspinner is subject to an anomalous transverse lateral optical gradient force that acts in concert with the classical gradient force.Consequently,when two or more metaspinners are trapped together in a laser beam,they collectively orbit the optical axis in the opposite direction to their spinning motion,in stark contrast to rotors coupled through hydrodynamic or mechanical interactions.The metaspinners delineated herein not only serve to llustrate the vast possibilities of utilizing optical metasurfaces for fundamental exploration of optical torques,but they also represent potential building-blocks of artificial active matter systems,light-driven micromachinery,and general-purpose optomechanical devices.

关 键 词：light induced rotation weakly focused lighta optomechanical devices optical metasurfaces transverse optical gradient force orbital angular momentum artificial active matter 

分 类 号：O436[机械工程—光学工程] O43[理学—光学]