2009/12/11 by Iver Brevik, Simen Å. Ellingsen · 31 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Asymmetry #Azimuth #Displacement (psychology) #Experimental and Theoretical Physics Studies #Fiber #Fiber optic sensor #Geophysics and Sensor Technology #Graded-index fiber #Materials science #Mechanical and Optical Resonators #Optical fiber #Optical force #Optical tweezers #Optics #Order (exchange) #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Radiation #Refractive index #Transverse plane #physics.optics #quant-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physreva.81.011806
published in Physical Review A 81(1) (American Physical Society) · 4 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication as Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev. A
arxiv created 2009/12/11 · openalex publication_date 2010/01/27 · arxiv updated 2010/04/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We show, by means of simple model calculations, how a weak laser beam sent though an optical fiber exerts a transverse radiation force if there is an azimuthal asymmetry present in the fiber such that one side has a slightly different refractive index than the other. The refractive index difference \ensuremathΔn needs only to be very low, of order 10^\ensuremath-3, to produce an appreciable transverse displacement of order 10 \ensuremathμm. We argue that the effect has probably already been seen in a recent experiment by W. She et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 243601 (2008)], and we discuss the correspondence between these observations and the theory presented. The effect could be used to bend optical fibers in a predictable and controlled manner and we propose that it could be useful for micron-scale devices.