KEYWORDS: Particles, Waveguides, Channel waveguides, Near field optics, Microfluidics, Channel projecting optics, Silicon, Lab on a chip, Switches, Magnetism
We demonstrate an on-chip microparticle passive sorting device employing a 3-dB optical splitter that consists of a slot
waveguide and a conventional channel waveguide. Simulations indicate that the optical force in the vertical direction
exerted on small particles (d < 1 μm) by the slot waveguide is larger than that by the channel waveguide. On the other
hand, the channel waveguide provides a stronger vertical force on large particles (d > 1 μm) than the slot waveguide. The
in-plane optical force provides a double-well trapping potential for small particles only. We perform experiments in
which small (320 nm diameter) and large (2 μm diameter) particles are brought to the splitter by the channel waveguide.
Due to a structural perturbation provided by a stuck bead, the small particles are transferred to the slot waveguide. The
large particles remain on the channel waveguide. The automated nature of this method, along with the low guided power
employed (20 mW in these experiments), makes this a promising approach for sorting sub-micron particles.
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