Science Daily January 11, 2023
In recent ten years, optical pulling of micro-nano objects have been fully demonstrated. However, optical pulling of a macroscopic object is challenging. Researchers in China have demonstrated laser pulling of a macroscopic object in rarefied gas. The pulling force was originated from the Kundsen force when a gauss laser beam irradiates a macroscopic structure composed of the absorptive bulk cross-linked graphene material and a SiO2 layer. A torsional pendulum device qualitatively presented the laser pulling phenomenon. A gravity pendulum device was used to further measure the pulling force that is more than three orders of magnitudes larger than the radiation pressure. According to the researchers their work expands the scope of optical pulling from microscale to macroscale and provides an effective technique approach for macroscopic optical manipulations…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Mechanism of macroscopic laser pulling and experimental facility of the torsional pendulum. Credit: Optics Express Vol. 31, Issue 2, pp. 2665-2674, (2023)Â