Precise Balancing of Viscous and Radiation Forces on a Particle in Liquid-Filled Photonic Bandgap Fiber

It is shown that, in the liquid-filled hollow core of a single-mode photonic crystal fiber, a micron-sized particle can be held stably against a fluidic counter-flow using radiation pressure, and moved to and fro (over 10s of cm) by ramping the laser power up and down. The results represent a major advance over previous work on particle transport in optically multimode liquid-filled fibers, in which the fluctuating transverse field pattern renders the radiation and trapping forces unpredictable. The counter-flowing liquid can be loaded with sequences of chemicals in precisely controlled concentrations and doses, making possible studies of single particles, vesicles or cells.