TY - JOUR
T1 - Ultrahigh numerical aperture meta-fibre for flexible optical trapping
AU - Plidschun, Malte
AU - Ren, Haoran
AU - Kim, Jisoo
AU - Förster, Ronny
AU - Maier, Stefan A.
AU - Schmidt, Markus A.
N1 - Funding Information:
M.P. and J.K. acknowledge funding from the Leibniz Science Campus InfectoOptics (Whole Blood Imaging project SAS-2015) and the DFG, projects SCHM2655/8-1 and SCHM2655/15-1. R.F. acknowledges financial support from the VW foundation. H.R. and S.A.M. acknowledge support from the Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation and the Lee-Lucas Chair in Physics. M.P., R.F., and M.A.S. thank R. Heintzmann for important comments on the fibre design and J. Rüger, I. Leite and S. Turtaev for lending equipment and technical assistance with the focal scan measurement. The authors also thank R. Fatobene Ando for visual implementation of Fig. 1a and J. Dellith for help with SEM imaging.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021/12
Y1 - 2021/12
N2 - Strong focusing on diffraction-limited spots is essential for many photonic applications and is particularly relevant for optical trapping; however, all currently used approaches fail to simultaneously provide flexible transportation of light, straightforward implementation, compatibility with waveguide circuitry, and strong focusing. Here, we demonstrate the design and 3D nanoprinting of an ultrahigh numerical aperture meta-fibre for highly flexible optical trapping. Taking into account the peculiarities of the fibre environment, we implemented an ultrathin meta-lens on the facet of a modified single-mode optical fibre via direct laser writing, leading to a diffraction-limited focal spot with a record-high numerical aperture of up to NA ≈ 0.9. The unique capabilities of this flexible, cost-effective, bio- and fibre-circuitry-compatible meta-fibre device were demonstrated by optically trapping microbeads and bacteria for the first time with only one single-mode fibre in combination with diffractive optics. Our study highlights the relevance of the unexplored but exciting field of meta-fibre optics to a multitude of fields, such as bioanalytics, quantum technology and life sciences.
AB - Strong focusing on diffraction-limited spots is essential for many photonic applications and is particularly relevant for optical trapping; however, all currently used approaches fail to simultaneously provide flexible transportation of light, straightforward implementation, compatibility with waveguide circuitry, and strong focusing. Here, we demonstrate the design and 3D nanoprinting of an ultrahigh numerical aperture meta-fibre for highly flexible optical trapping. Taking into account the peculiarities of the fibre environment, we implemented an ultrathin meta-lens on the facet of a modified single-mode optical fibre via direct laser writing, leading to a diffraction-limited focal spot with a record-high numerical aperture of up to NA ≈ 0.9. The unique capabilities of this flexible, cost-effective, bio- and fibre-circuitry-compatible meta-fibre device were demonstrated by optically trapping microbeads and bacteria for the first time with only one single-mode fibre in combination with diffractive optics. Our study highlights the relevance of the unexplored but exciting field of meta-fibre optics to a multitude of fields, such as bioanalytics, quantum technology and life sciences.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85102595199
U2 - 10.1038/s41377-021-00491-z
DO - 10.1038/s41377-021-00491-z
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85102595199
SN - 2095-5545
VL - 10
JO - Light: Science and Applications
JF - Light: Science and Applications
IS - 1
M1 - 57
ER -