Optical rotation conveyor belt based on a polarization-maintaining hollow-core photonic crystal fiber.

Hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HCPCFs), a form of optical conveyer belts, have been used to guide particles for many years. However, only the translational motions of a guided particle can be manipulated. In contrast to traditional types, we demonstrate a new form of optical conveyor belts based on a polarization-maintaining hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PMHCPCF). Because of the constant polarization state in the PMHCPCF, both the translational and rotational motions of a guided particle can be manipulated simultaneously. For the convenience of theoretical simulations and the effortless control of the polarization state in the PMHCPCF, an x-axis linearly polarized beam and an elliptically polarized beam are coupled into the PMHCPCF to form an incoherent dual-beam trap. For a specific guided particle, the orientation of the particle can be manipulated by the polarization state of the x-axis linearly polarized beam and its rotation rate can be manipulated by the polarization state of the elliptically polarized beam. Moreover, we can obtain any orientation and rotation rate at each trapping position by changing the polarization direction and polarization state. This results in a variety of application prospects in the study of chiral molecules, especially in the fields of biology, medicine, chemistry, and polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]