Reverse orbiting of microparticles in optical vortices

Opt Lett. 2006 Oct 1;31(19):2824-6. doi: 10.1364/ol.31.002824.

Abstract

We report the observation of particles trapped at an air-water surface orbiting in a reverse direction with respect to the orbital angular momentum of the light field. The effect is explained by a combination of asymmetric particle shape and confinement of the particle on the 2D air-water interface. The experiment highlights the strong influence of the particle shape on the momentum transfer, an effect that is often not considered in optical trapping experiments.