Continuously rotating chiral liquid crystal droplets in a linearly polarized laser trap

The transfer of optical angular momentum to birefringent particles via circularly polarized light is common. We report here on the unexpected, continuous rotation of chiral nematic liquid crystal droplets in a linearly polarized optical trap. The rotation is non-uniform, occurs over a timescale of s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2008-05, Vol.16 (10), p.6877-6882
Main Authors: Yang, Y, Brimicombe, P D, Roberts, N W, Dickinson, M R, Osipov, M, Gleeson, H F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crystallization
Electrochemistry - methods
Equipment Design
Lasers
Light
Liquid Crystals
Micromanipulation - methods
Motion
Optical Tweezers
Optics and Photonics
Stress, Mechanical
Time Factors
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Summary:The transfer of optical angular momentum to birefringent particles via circularly polarized light is common. We report here on the unexpected, continuous rotation of chiral nematic liquid crystal droplets in a linearly polarized optical trap. The rotation is non-uniform, occurs over a timescale of seconds, and is observed only for very specific droplet sizes. Synchronized vertical motion of the droplet occurs during the rotation. The motion is the result of photo-induced molecular reorganization, providing a micron sized opto-mechanical transducer that twists and translates.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/oe.16.006877