Quantum Vector Light Cuts Particle Heating Rate in Optical Tweezers

Researchers have developed a new theoretical framework for analyzing how light interacts with levitated particles, revealing a pathway to more stable optical trapping. Daniel Tandeitnik of the Department of Physics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, along with Lucas Bianchi, Sebastian Gutierrez-Bernal, Joanna A. Zielińska, Paulo A. Maia Neto, and Thiago Guerreiro, detail a fully vectorial approach to understanding light scattering from these particles, applicable to a range of trapping configurations and high-precision focusing techniques. Applying this formalism to a radially polarized trapping beam, the authors confirm that the axial recoil heating rate, a key factor limiting observation times, is reduced compared to conventional linearly polarized tweezers. This advance centers on the introduction of the information radiation pattern to characterize the angular distribution of position-dependent information, impacting the stability of the optical trap and extending the duration…