Laser light can trap and manipulate small particles. Scientists now show that femtosecond near-infrared laser pulses can split a single trap into two. The effect is a result of third-order optical nonlinearities that arise once the laser power crosses a certain threshold, and the direction of the split is determined by the light’s polarization.
- Yuqiang Jiang
- Tetsuya Narushima
- Hiromi Okamoto
