Femtosecond laser trapping, assembling, and ejection dynamics of dielectric nanoparticles in solution

Abstract

We elucidated femtosecond laser trapping dynamics of Rayleigh particles by modifying the surface property of nanoparticles and changing the viscosity. Through bright field, dark field and backscattering images, we monitored ejection behavior of nanoparticles which takes place in the direction perpendicular to laser polarization and switched from one side to the other. For very hydrophobic nanoparticle, we succeeded in observing directly a transient assembly and confirmed that its formation is responsible to the directional ejection. Also the trapping dynamics was compared for femtosecond and continuous-wave lasers in highly viscous solvent, which gives a new viewpoint for understanding femtosecond laser trapping mechanism.