Chiral Mechanical Effect of the Tightly Focused Chiral Vector Vortex Fields Interacting with Particles

Abstract

The coupling of the spin-orbit angular momentum of photons in a focused spatial region can enhance the localized optical field’s chirality. In this paper, a scheme for producing a superchiral optical field in a 4π microscopic system is presented by tightly focusing two counter-propagating spiral wavefronts. We calculate the optical forces and torques exerted on a chiral dipole by the chiral light field and reveal the chiral forces by combining the light field and dipoles. Results indicate that, in addition to the general optical force, particles’ motion would be affected by a chiral force that is directly related to the particle chirality. This chiral mechanical effect experienced by the electromagnetic dipoles excited on a chiral particle could be characterized by the behaviors of chirality density and flux, which are, respectively, associated with the reactive and dissipative components of the chiral forces. This work facilitates the advancement of optical separation and manipulation techniques for chiral particles.