Nonlinear particle behavior during cross-type optical particle separation

Abstract

The effects of varying the ratio of the optical force to the viscous drag force, termed S, on cross-type optical particle separation were investigated experimentally to test previous theoretical predictions. The experiments were performed for various flow velocities, powers of the laser beam, and radii of the laser beam waist and the particles. The behaviors of the particles during optical separation were examined by measuring the retention distances and analyzing the particle trajectories. For small values of S, the particles move with constant velocity in the flow direction and the retention distance increases linearly with S. However, the particles accelerate and decelerate within the laser beam and the retention distance increases nonlinearly with S when S increases further.