Direct measurements of the extraordinary optical momentum and transverse spin-dependent force using a nano-cantilever
By M. Antognozzi, C. Bermingham, Robert L. Harniman, S. Simpson, J. Senior, Rosie Hayward, Heinrich Hoerber, M. Dennis, A. Bekshaev, K. Bliokh and 1 more. Nature Physics, 2015
235 citations recorded by the source corpus.
An unexpected optical momentum and force perpendicular to the wavevector are measured using a nano-cantilever in an evanescent optical field, confirming a 75-year-old prediction. Radiation pressure is associated with the momentum of light1,2, and it plays a crucial role in a variety of physical systems3,4,5,6. It is usually assumed that both the optical momentum and the radiation-pressure force are naturally aligned with the propagation direction of light, given by its wavevector. Here we report the direct observation of an extraordinary optical momentum and force directed perpendicular to the wavevector, and proportional to the optical spin (degree of circular polarization). Such an optical force was recently predicted for evanescent waves7 and other structured fields8. It can be associated with the ’spin-momentum’ part of the Poynting vector, introduced by Belinfante in field theory 75 years ago9,10,11. We measure this unusual transverse momentum using a femtonewton-resolution nano-cantilever immersed in an evanescent optical field above the total internal reflecting glass surface. Furthermore, the measured transverse force exhibits another polarization-dependent contribution determined by the imaginary part of the complex Poynting vector. By revealing new types of optical forces in structured fields, our findings revisit fundamental momentum properties of light and enrich optomechanics.
Subfields: Artificial Intelligence, Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/b20dee02b5d6a27a8c9579068b51c69712ecfc99
How researchers see this paper
The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.
In Artificial Intelligence
In Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Citations in the corpus
- Structured Light: Ideas and Concepts (2020, methodology): “The corresponding transverse mechanical action of the extraordinary SM and reactive momentum was convincingly demonstrated in experiments with the EW formed above the total-reflection glass–air interface [63].”