Polarization-dependent lateral optical force of subwavelength-diameter optical fibers

Abstract

It is highly desirable to design optical devices with diverse optomechanical functions. Here, we investigate lateral optical force exerted on subwavelength-diameter (SD) optical fibers harnessed by input light modes with different polarizations. It is interesting to find that input light modes of circular or elliptical polarizations would bring about lateral optical force in new directions, which has not been observed in previous studies. By means of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations, detailed spatial distributions of the asymmetric transverse force density are revealed, meanwhile dependence of optical force on input light polarizations, fiber diameters, and inclination angles of fiber endfaces are all carefully discussed. It is believed that polarization-sensitive reflection, refraction, and diffraction of optical fields occur at the interface, i.e., fiber oblique endfaces, resulting in asymmetrically distributed optical fields and thereafter non-zero transverse optical force. We believe our new findings could be helpful for constructing future steerable optomechanical devices with more flexibility.