Karpinski P, Sznitko L, Wisniewska-Belej M, Miniewicz A, Antosiewicz TJ. Optically Controlled Development of a Waveguide from a Reservoir of Microparticles.
SMALL METHODS 2023:e2201545. [PMID:
37075735 DOI:
10.1002/smtd.202201545]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Light can be guided without diffraction in prefabricated structures: optical fibers and waveguides or in actively created spatial solitons in optically nonlinear media. Here, an approach in which a self-stabilized optical waveguide develops from a reservoir of building blocks-spherical polymer microparticles (MPs)-and is pushed through an optically passive medium-water-is presented. The optical waveguide, formed by a chain of these microparticles and one microsphere wide, is self-stabilized and propelled by the guided light, while its geometrical and dynamical properties depend on the diameter-to-wavelength ratio. The smallest investigated particles, 500 nm in diameter, form single-mode waveguides up to tens of micrometers long, with the length limited only by optical losses. In contrast, waveguides constructed of larger MPs, 1 and 2.5 µm in diameter, are limited in length to only a few particles due to interference of different modes and beating of light intensity.
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