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Title: On-chip optical levitation with a metalens in vacuum

Optical levitation of dielectric particles in vacuum is a powerful technique for precision measurements, testing fundamental physics, and quantum information science. Conventional optical tweezers require bulky optical components for trapping and detection. Here, we design and fabricate an ultrathin dielectric metalens with a high numerical aperture of 0.88 at 1064 nm in vacuum. It consists of 500-nm-thick silicon nano-antennas, which are compatible with an ultrahigh vacuum. We demonstrate optical levitation of nanoparticles in vacuum with a single metalens. The trapping frequency can be tuned by changing the laser power and polarization. We also transfer a levitated nanoparticle between two separated optical tweezers. Optical levitation with an ultrathin metalens in vacuum provides opportunities for a wide range of applications including on-chip sensing. Such metalenses will also be useful for trapping ultracold atoms and molecules.

 
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Award ID(s):
2110591
NSF-PAR ID:
10307585
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Optical Society of America
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Optica
Volume:
8
Issue:
11
ISSN:
2334-2536
Page Range / eLocation ID:
Article No. 1359
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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