Near-field optical trapping with an ultrashort pulsed laser beam

Abstract

We report the focused evanescent optical trapping of nonfluorescent and fluorescent dielectric microspheres using a femtosecond laser. The experiment confirms that the trapping efficiency increases with the size of the particles. As a result, a pulsed laser has been used to trap particles in the Mie regime and to excite whispering gallery modes in them. The excitation of whispering gallery modes in a near-field femtosecond trap shows a significant suppression of the two-photon fluorescence background with an improvement of the photon storage factor by 46%, as compared to far-field two-photon excitation. © 2008 American Institute of Physics.