Conference paper
WOW: light print, light propel, light point
We are presenting so-called Wave-guided Optical Waveguides (WOWs) fabricated by two-photon polymerization and capable of being optically manipulated into any arbitrary orientation. By integrating optical waveguides into the structures we have created freestanding waveguides which can be positioned anywhere in a sample at any orientation using real-time 3D optical micromanipulation with six degrees of freedom.
One of the key aspects of our demonstrated WOWs is the change in direction of in-coupled light and the marked increase in numerical aperture of the out-coupled light. Hence, each light propelled WOW can tap from a relatively broad incident beam and generate a much more tightly confined light at its tip.
The presentation contains both numerical simulations related to the propagation of light through a WOW and preliminary experimental demonstrations on our BioPhotonics Workstation. In a broader context, this research shows that optically trapped micro-fabricated structures can potentially help bridge the diffraction barrier.
This structure-mediated paradigm may be carried forward to open new possibilities for exploiting beams from far-field optics down to the sub-wavelength domain.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2012 |
Proceedings: | 2012 Optics+Photonics : Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation IX |
ISSN: | 1996756x and 0277786x |
Types: | Conference paper |
DOI: | 10.1117/12.930826 |