Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air
Stöllner A, Lenton IC, Volosniev A, Millen J, Shibuya R, Ishii H, Rak D, Alpichshev Z, David G, Signorell R, Muller CJ, Waitukaitis SR. 2025. Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. Physical Review Letters. 135(21), 218202.
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Author
Stöllner, AndreaISTA 
;
Lenton, Isaac CISTA ;
Volosniev, ArtemISTA ;
Millen, James;
Shibuya, Renjiro;
Ishii, Hisao;
Rak, DmytroISTA;
Alpichshev, ZhanybekISTA ;
David, Grégory;
Signorell, Ruth;
Muller, Caroline JISTA ;
Waitukaitis, Scott RISTA
All
;
Lenton, Isaac CISTA ;
Volosniev, ArtemISTA ;
Millen, James;
Shibuya, Renjiro;
Ishii, Hisao;
Rak, DmytroISTA;
Alpichshev, ZhanybekISTA ;
David, Grégory;
Signorell, Ruth;
Muller, Caroline JISTA ;
Waitukaitis, Scott RISTA
All
Corresponding author has ISTA affiliation
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Grant
Abstract
Optical tweezers are widely used as a highly sensitive tool to measure forces on micron-scale particles. One such application is the measurement of the electric charge of a particle, which can be done with high precision in liquids, air, or vacuum. We experimentally investigate how the trapping laser itself can electrically charge such a particle, in our case a ∼1 μm SiO2 sphere in air. We model the charging mechanism as a two-photon process which reproduces the experimental data with high fidelity.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2025-11-21
Journal Title
Physical Review Letters
Publisher
American Physical Society
Acknowledgement
We thank Todor Asenov and Abdulhamid Baghdadi for their outstanding technical support and Dr. Michael Gleichweit and Mercede Azizbaig Mohajer for the helpful discussions. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreements No. 949120 and No. 805041) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, Project No. 200021-236446). This research was supported by the Scientific Service Units of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) through resources provided by the Miba Machine Shop and the Scientific Computing service unit.
Acknowledged SSUs
Volume
135
Issue
21
Article Number
218202
ISSN
eISSN
IST-REx-ID
Cite this
Stöllner A, Lenton IC, Volosniev A, et al. Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. Physical Review Letters. 2025;135(21). doi:10.1103/5xd9-4tjj
Stöllner, A., Lenton, I. C., Volosniev, A., Millen, J., Shibuya, R., Ishii, H., … Waitukaitis, S. R. (2025). Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society. https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj
Stöllner, Andrea, Isaac C Lenton, Artem Volosniev, James Millen, Renjiro Shibuya, Hisao Ishii, Dmytro Rak, et al. “Using Optical Tweezers to Simultaneously Trap, Charge, and Measure the Charge of a Microparticle in Air.” Physical Review Letters. American Physical Society, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1103/5xd9-4tjj.
A. Stöllner et al., “Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air,” Physical Review Letters, vol. 135, no. 21. American Physical Society, 2025.
Stöllner A, Lenton IC, Volosniev A, Millen J, Shibuya R, Ishii H, Rak D, Alpichshev Z, David G, Signorell R, Muller CJ, Waitukaitis SR. 2025. Using optical tweezers to simultaneously trap, charge, and measure the charge of a microparticle in air. Physical Review Letters. 135(21), 218202.
Stöllner, Andrea, et al. “Using Optical Tweezers to Simultaneously Trap, Charge, and Measure the Charge of a Microparticle in Air.” Physical Review Letters, vol. 135, no. 21, 218202, American Physical Society, 2025, doi:10.1103/5xd9-4tjj.
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