Figure 2
From: Light-induced rotations of chiral birefringent microparticles in optical tweezers
Transverse QPD signals at different waveplate angles: 45 deg (a), 55 deg (b) and 65 deg (c). Black lines are cosinusoidal fit to the data. In proximity of the left-handed polarization a modulation appears on top of the particle positional fluctuations typical for a trapped particle in optical tweezers indicating the onset of rotations. Autocorrelation functions (ACFs) showing the particle dynamics at short times (d–f) and at long times (g–i). At short times, the exponential decay is dictated by the optical tweezers trapping potential and the overdamped thermal fluctuations. At long times, the particle rotation appears as a cosinusoidal modulation in the ACFs when the ellipticity is close to the left-handed polarization (g,h), while no modulation is visible (no rotation) when the ellipticity is away from left-handed polarization.
