Optical torque on microscopic objects

We outline in general the role and potential areas of application for the use of optical torque in optical tweezers. Optically induced torque is always a result of transfer of angular momentum from light to a particle with conservation of momentum as an underlying principle. Consequently, rotation can be induced by a beam of light that carries angular momentum (AM) or by a beam that carries no AM but where AM is induced in the beam by the particle. First, we analyze some techniques to exert torque with optical tweezers such as dual beam traps. We also discuss the alignment and rotation which is achieved using laser beams carrying intrinsic AM—either spin or orbital AM, or both. We then discuss the types of particles that can be trapped and rotated in such beams such as absorbing or birefringent particles. We present a systematic study of the alignment of particles with respect to the beam axis and the beam's polarization as a way of inducing optical torque by studying crystals of the protein lysozyme. We present the theory behind quantitative measurements of both spin and orbital momentum transfer. Finally, we discuss the applications of rotation in optically driven micromachines, microrheology, flow field measurements, and microfluidics