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An optical reaction micro-turbine

Author

Listed:
  • Silvio Bianchi

    (NANOTEC-CNR, Institute of Nanotechnology, Soft and Living Matter Laboratory)

  • Gaszton Vizsnyiczai

    (Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Sapienza”
    Institute of Biophysics, Biological Research Centre Hungarian Academy of Sciences)

  • Stefano Ferretti

    (Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Sapienza”)

  • Claudio Maggi

    (NANOTEC-CNR, Institute of Nanotechnology, Soft and Living Matter Laboratory)

  • Roberto Leonardo

    (NANOTEC-CNR, Institute of Nanotechnology, Soft and Living Matter Laboratory
    Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma “Sapienza”)

Abstract

To any energy flow there is an associated flow of momentum, so that recoil forces arise every time an object absorbs or deflects incoming energy. This same principle governs the operation of macroscopic turbines as well as that of microscopic turbines that use light as the working fluid. However, a controlled and precise redistribution of optical energy is not easy to achieve at the micron scale resulting in a low efficiency of power to torque conversion. Here we use direct laser writing to fabricate 3D light guiding structures, shaped as a garden sprinkler, that can precisely reroute input optical power into multiple output channels. The shape parameters are derived from a detailed theoretical analysis of losses in curved microfibers. These optical reaction micro-turbines can maximally exploit light’s momentum to generate a strong, uniform and controllable torque.

Suggested Citation

  • Silvio Bianchi & Gaszton Vizsnyiczai & Stefano Ferretti & Claudio Maggi & Roberto Leonardo, 2018. "An optical reaction micro-turbine," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 9(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:9:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-06947-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06947-y
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