Document Type
Thesis
Publication Date
1993
Disciplines
Mathematics | Physics
Advisor
Dean Langley
Abstract
An investigation of the trapping force on a sphere in a tightly focused laser beam is carried out using a geometrical optics approximation. This calculation generalizes earlier work by allowing the spheres to be located off the beam axis. Additionally, a fifth-order, instead of zeroth-order, Gaussian approximation is used, and beam polarization is explicitly taken into account. The results suggest an interesting experiment, involving a driven damped harmonic oscilator system, which could be performed to test the validity of the theory. This experiment will be the focus of a future study.
Copyright Statement
Available by permission of the author. Reproduction or retransmission of this material in any form is prohibited without expressed written permission of the author.
Recommended Citation
Knudson, Marc, "The Force on a Sphere in a Tightly Focused Laser Beam" (1993). Honors Theses, 1963-2015. 351.
https://digitalcommons.csbsju.edu/honors_theses/351