Optical propulsion of individual and clustered microspheres along sub-micron optical wires

The evanescent field of sub-micron optical wires has been found to extend for longer distances when compared with planar waveguides. The large evanescent field associated with sub-micron optical wires has been exploited to propel 10 mm polystyrene spheres and sphere clusters at the velocity of 12 and 8 mm/s, respectively in water with about 0.4W of laser light at 1047 nm