Here, we demonstrate, for the first time, the robust sorting of Mie (size ~ wavelength) chiral particles with different handedness at an air鈥搘ater interface using optical lateral forces induced by a single linearly polarized laser beam. The nontrivial physical interactions underlying these ...
Optical sorting: Forcing mirror-image microparticles to go their own way A setup that uses lasers to automatically sort compounds with nearly imperceptible chemical differences could improve the efficiency of drug manufacturing. Many pharmaceuticals are difficult to purify because they are chiral, meaning...
Lateral optical forces induced by linearly polarized laser beams have been predicted to deflect dipolar particles with opposite chiralities toward opposite transversal directions. These"chirality-dependent"forces can offer newpossibilities for passive all-optical enantioselective sorting of chiral particles, ...