Alejandro V. Arzola

Experimental Control of Transport and Current Reversals in a Deterministic Optical Rocking Ratchet

We present an experimental demonstration of a deterministic optical rocking ratchet. A periodic and asymmetric light pattern is created to interact with dielectric microparticles in water, giving rise to a ratchet potential. The sample is moved with respect to the pattern with an unbiased time-periodic rocking function, which tilts the potential in alternating opposite directions. We obtain a current of particles whose direction can be controlled in real time and show that particles of different sizes may experience opposite currents. Moreover, we observed current reversals as a function of the magnitude and period of the rocking force.

Rotation, oscillation and hydrodynamic synchronization of optically trapped oblate spheroidal microparticles

While the behavior of optically trapped dielectric spherical particles has been extensively studied, the behavior of non-spherical particles remains mainly unexplored. In this work we focus on the dynamics of oblate spheroidal particles trapped in a tightly focused elliptically-polarized vortex beam. In our experiments we used polystyrene spheroids of aspect ratio of major to minor axes equal to 2.55 and of a volume equal to a sphere of diameter 1.7μm. We demonstrate that such particles can be trapped in three dimensions, with the minor axis oriented perpendicular to both the beam polarization (linear) and the beam propagation, can spin in a circularly polarized beam and an optical vortex beam around the axis parallel with the beam propagation. We also observed that these particles can exhibit a periodic motion in the plane transversal to the beam propagation. We measured that the transfer of the orbital angular momentum from the vortex beam to the spheroid gives rise to torques one order of magnitude stronger comparing to the circularly polarized Gaussian beam. We employed a phase-only spatial light modulator to generate several vortex beam traps with one spheroid in each of them. Due to independent setting of beams parameters we controlled spheroids frequency and sense of rotation and observed hydrodynamic phase and frequency locking of rotating spheroids. These optically driven spheroids offer a simple alternative approach to the former techniques based on birefringent, absorbing or chiral microrotors.

Complex rotational dynamics of multiple spheroidal particles in a circularly polarized, dual beam trap

We examine the rotational dynamics of spheroidal particles in an optical trap comprising counter-propagating Gaussian beams of opposing helicity. Isolated spheroids undergo continuous rotation with frequencies determined by their size and aspect ratio, whilst pairs of spheroids display phase locking behaviour. The introduction of additional particles leads to yet more complex behaviour. Experimental results are supported by numerical calculations.

Optical sorting of nonspherical and living microobjects in moving interference structures

Contactless, sterile and nondestructive separation of microobjects or living cells is demanded in many areas of biology and analytical chemistry, as well as in physics or engineering. Here we demonstrate advanced sorting methods based on the optical forces exerted by travelling interference fringes with tunable periodicity controlled by a spatial light modulator. Besides the sorting of spherical particles we also demonstrate separation of algal cells of different sizes and particles of different shapes. The three presented methods offer simultaneous sorting of more objects in static suspension placed in a Petri dish or on a microscope slide.

An Epigenetic Model for Pigment Patterning Based on Mechanical and Cellular Interactions

Pigment patterning in animals generally occurs during early developmental stages and has ecological, physiological, ethological, and evolutionary significance. Despite the relative simplicity of color patterns, their emergence depends upon multilevel complex processes. Thus, theoretical models have become necessary tools to further understand how such patterns emerge. Recent studies have reevaluated the importance of epigenetic, as well as genetic factors in developmental pattern formation. Yet epigenetic phenomena, specially those related to physical constraints that might be involved in the emergence of color patterns, have not been fully studied. In this article, we propose a model of color patterning in which epigenetic aspects such as cell migration, cell-tissue interactions, and physical and mechanical phenomena are central. This model considers that motile cells embedded in a fibrous, viscoelastic matrix-mesenchyme-can deform it in such a way that tension tracks are formed. We postulate that these tracks act, in turn, as guides for subsequent cell migration and establishment, generating long-range phenomenological interactions. We aim to describe some general aspects of this developmental phenomenon with a rather simple mathematical model. Then we discuss our model in the context of available experimental and morphological evidence for reptiles, amphibians, and fishes, and compare it with other patterning models. We also put forward novel testable predictions derived from our model, regarding, for instance, the localization of the postulated tension tracks, and we propose new experiments. Finally, we discuss how the proposed mechanism could constitute a dynamic patterning module accounting for pattern formation in many animal lineages.

Omnidirectional Transport in Fully Reconfigurable Two Dimensional Optical Ratchets

A fully reconfigurable two-dimensional (2D) rocking ratchet system created with holographic optical micromanipulation is presented. We can generate optical potentials with the geometry of any Bravais lattice in 2D and introduce a spatial asymmetry with arbitrary orientation. Nontrivial directed transport of Brownian particles along different directions is demonstrated numerically and experimentally, including on axis, perpendicular, and oblique with respect to an unbiased ac driving. The most important aspect to define the current direction is shown to be the asymmetry and not the driving orientation, and yet we show a system in which the asymmetry orientation of each potential well does not coincide with the transport direction, suggesting an additional symmetry breaking as a result of a coupling with the lattice configuration. Our experimental device, due to its versatility, opens up a new range of possibilities in the study of nonequilibrium dynamics at the microscopic level.

Dynamical analysis of an optical rocking ratchet: theory and experiment.

A thorough analysis of the dynamics in a deterministic optical rocking ratchet [introduced in A. V. Arzola et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 168104 (2011)] and a comparison with experimental results are presented. The studied system consists of a microscopic particle interacting with a periodic and asymmetric light pattern, which is driven away from equilibrium by means of an unbiased time-periodic external force. It is shown that the asymmetry of the effective optical potential depends on the relative size of the particle with respect to the spatial period, and this is analyzed as an effective mechanism for particle fractionation. The necessary conditions to obtain current reversals in the deterministic regime are discussed in detail.

3D micromanipulation at low numerical aperture with a single light beam: the focused-Bessel trap

Full-three-dimensional (3D) manipulation of individual glass beads with radii in the range of 2-8 μm is experimentally demonstrated by using a single Bessel light beam focused through a low-numerical-aperture lens (NA=0.40). Although we have a weight-assisted trap with the beam propagating upward, we obtain a stable equilibrium position well away from the walls of the sample cell, and we are able to move the particle across the entire cell in three dimensions. A theoretical analysis for the optical field and trapping forces along the lateral and axial directions is presented for the focused-Bessel trap. This trap offers advantages for 3D manipulation, such as an extended working distance, a large field of view, and reduced aberrations.

Force mapping of an extended light pattern in an inclined plane: Deterministic regime

We present a full quantitative mapping of the non-linear optical trapping force associated to an extended interference pattern of fringes as a function of the position. To map this force, we studied the dynamics of microscopic spherical beads of different sizes (8, 10 and 14.5 microns in diameter) moving through the light pattern. For this range of particle sizes, the system is overdamped due to the viscous drag and the effect of thermal noise is negligible. The novel experimental approach consists in tilting the sample cell a small angle with respect to the horizontal, thus we have a deterministic particle in an inclined plane. The combined action of the optical force and gravity gives rise to a washboard potential. We compared our experimental results with a ray optics model and found a good quantitative agreement. For each size of the microsphere we studied different spatial periods of the interference fringes.

Comparative study of optical levitation traps: focused Bessel beam versus Gaussian beams

In optical levitation traps, a light beam propagating upward is focused with a relatively low numerical aperture (NA), producing a large scattering force along the propagation direction, which is balanced by the effective weight of a particle. Here, we present a detailed study of four levitation traps obtained when the trapping beam is a fundamental Gaussian mode focused with different NA, in comparison with a levitation trap obtained with a zero-order Bessel beam focused through a lens with NA=0.40. A theoretical analysis for the optical field and trapping forces along the lateral and axial directions is presented for all the traps and contrasted with experimental results. We show that the focused Bessel trap offers highly superior capabilities for manipulation of individual glass beads in three dimensions, along with other advantages in comparison with standard optical tweezers, such as an extended working distance, larger field of view, and lower spherical aberration.