Optical trapping and manipulation of Mie particles with Airy beam.

In this paper we calculate the radiation forces and moving trajectories of Mie particles induced by 1D Airy beams using the plane wave spectrum method and arbitrary beam theory. Numerical results show that both the transverse and the longitudinal radiation forces are deeply dependent on the relative refractive index, radii and positions of the scattering particles illuminated by the Airy beam. Due to the radiation forces, Mie particles with different radii and initial positions can be dragged into the nearest main intensity lobes, and move along parabolic trajectories in the direction of the Poynting vector. At the ends of these trajectories, in the presence of Brownian force, the trapped scattering particles show irregular Brownian movement near their equilibrium positions. This characteristic property of Airy beams enables optical sorting to be used more easily in the colloidal and biological sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]