Optical trapping and manipulation of micrometre-sized particles was first reported in 1970. Since then, it has been successfully implemented in two size ranges: the subnanometre scale, where light-matter mechanical coupling enables cooling of atoms, ions and molecules, and the micrometre scale, where the momentum transfer resulting from light scattering allows manipulation of microscopic objects such as cells. But it has been difficult to apply these techniques to the intermediate - nanoscale - range that includes structures such as quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes, graphene and two-dimensional crystals, all of crucial importance for nanomaterials-based applications. Recently, however, several new approaches have been developed and demonstrated for trapping plasmonic nanoparticles, semiconductor nanowires and carbon nanostructures. Here we review the state-of-the-art in optical trapping at the nanoscale, with an emphasis on some of the most promising advances, such as controlled manipulation and assembly of individual and multiple nanostructures, force measurement with femtonewton resolution, and biosensors.

/pdf/optical-trapping-and-manipulation-of-nanostructures-2yxi3q7qca.pdf

Optical trapping and manipulation of nanostructures

We analyze theoretically the optical properties of ideal semiconductor crystallites so small that they show quantum confinement in all three dimensions [quantum dots (QD's)]. In the limit of a QD much smaller than the bulk exciton size, the linear spectrum will be a series of lines, and we consider the phonon broadening of these lines. The lowest interband transition will saturate like a two-level system, without exchange and Coulomb screening. Depending on the broadening, the absorption and the changes in absorption and refractive index resulting from saturation can become very large, and the local-field effects can become so strong as to give optical bistability without external feedback. The small QD limit is more readily achieved with narrow-band-gap semiconductors.

Theory of the linear and nonlinear optical properties of semiconductor microcrystallites

Semiconductor lasers are convenient and compact sources of light, offering highly efficient operation, direct electrical control and integration opportunities. In this review we describe how semiconductor quantum-dot structures can provide an efficient means of amplifying and generating ultrafast (of the order of 100 fs), high-power and low-noise optical pulses, with the potential to boost the repetition rate of the pulses to beyond 1 THz. Such device designs are opening up new possibilities in ultrafast science and technology.

Mode-locked quantum-dot lasers

Intracellular delivery is a key step in biological research and has enabled decades of biomedical discoveries. It is also becoming increasingly important in industrial and medical applications ranging from biomanufacture to cell-based therapies. Here, we review techniques for membrane disruption-based intracellular delivery from 1911 until the present. These methods achieve rapid, direct, and universal delivery of almost any cargo molecule or material that can be dispersed in solution. We start by covering the motivations for intracellular delivery and the challenges associated with the different cargo types—small molecules, proteins/peptides, nucleic acids, synthetic nanomaterials, and large cargo. The review then presents a broad comparison of delivery strategies followed by an analysis of membrane disruption mechanisms and the biology of the cell response. We cover mechanical, electrical, thermal, optical, and chemical strategies of membrane disruption with a particular emphasis on their applications a...

/pdf/intracellular-delivery-by-membrane-disruption-mechanisms-1r7lisc9lz.pdf

Intracellular Delivery by Membrane Disruption: Mechanisms, Strategies, and Concepts.

This paper summarizes recent advances on InAs/InP quantum dash (QD) materials for lasers and amplifiers, and QD device performance with particular interest in optical communication. We investigate both InAs/InP dashes in a barrier and dashes in a well (DWELL) heterostructures operating at 1.5 mum. These two types of QDs can provide high gain and low losses. Continuous-wave (CW) room-temperature lasing operation on ground state of cavity length as short as 200 mum has been achieved, demonstrating the high modal gain of the active core. A threshold current density as low as 110 A/cm2 per QD layer has been obtained for infinite-length DWELL laser. An optimized DWELL structure allows achieving of a T0 larger than 100 K for broad-area (BA) lasers, and of 80 K for single-transverse-mode lasers in the temperature range between 25degC and 85degC. Buried ridge stripe (BRS)-type single-mode distributed feedback (DFB) lasers are also demonstrated for the first time, exhibiting a side-mode suppression ratio (SMSR) as high as 45 dB. Such DFB lasers allow the first floor-free 10-Gb/s direct modulation for back-to-back and transmission over 16-km standard optical fiber. In addition, novel results are given on gain, noise, and four-wave mixing of QD-based semiconductor optical amplifiers. Furthermore, we demonstrate that QD Fabry-Perot (FP) lasers, owing to the small confinement factor and the three-dimensional (3-D) quantification of electronic energy levels, exhibit a beating linewidth as narrow as 15 kHz. Such an extremely narrow linewidth, compared to their QW or bulk counterparts, leads to the excellent phase noise and time-jitter characteristics when QD lasers are actively mode-locked. These advances constitute a new step toward the application of QD lasers and amplifiers to the field of optical fiber communications

/pdf/recent-advances-on-inas-inp-quantum-dash-based-semiconductor-1due9iu1dr.pdf

Recent Advances on InAs/InP Quantum Dash Based Semiconductor Lasers and Optical Amplifiers Operating at 1.55 $\mu$ m

Photoporation is a rapidly expanding technique for the introduction of macromolecules into single cells. However, there remains no study into the true efficiency of this procedure. Here, we present a detailed analysis of transfection efficiency and cell viability for femtosecond optical transfection using a titanium sapphire laser at 800 nm. Photoporation of 4000 Chinese Hamster ovary cells was performed, representing the largest optical transfection study reported to date. We have investigated a range of laser fluences at the cell membrane and, at 1.2 microJ/cm(2), have found an average transfection efficiency of 50 +/- 10%. Contrary to recent literature, in which 100% efficiency is claimed, our measure of efficiency accounts for all irradiated cells, including those lost as a result of laser treatment, thereby providing a true biological measure of the technique.

Femtosecond optical transfection of cells:viability and efficiency

We demonstrate mode locking in a two-section quantum-dot laser that produces output powers up to 45 mW at 1260 nm. The pulse duration could be varied from 2 ps to as short as 400 fs at the 21 GHz pulse repetition rate.

High-power picosecond and femtosecond pulse generation from a two-section mode-locked quantum-dot laser

The authors report a direct measurement of the absorption dynamics in an InAs p‐i‐n ridge waveguide quantum dot modulator. The carrier escape mechanisms are investigated via subpicosecond pump-probe measurements at room temperature, under reverse bias conditions. The optical pulses employed are degenerate in wavelength with the quantum dot ground state transition at 1.28μm. The absorption change recovers with characteristic times ranging from 62ps (0V)to∼700fs (−10V), showing a decrease of nearly two orders of magnitude. The authors show that at low applied fields, this recovery is attributed to thermionic emission while for higher applied fields, tunneling becomes the dominant mechanism.

Ultrafast electroabsorption dynamics in an InAs quantum dot saturable absorber at 1.3μm

Ultrashort-pulse lasers passively mode locked by quantum-dot-based saturable absorbers

We demonstrate stable mode locking in a Yb:KYW laser by using a quantum-dot saturable absorber structure with p-n-junction. A reduction in the output pulse duration was measured when a reverse bias was applied to SESAM.

W. Sibbett

Papers

Femtosecond optical transfection of cells:viability and efficiency

High-power picosecond and femtosecond pulse generation from a two-section mode-locked quantum-dot laser

Ultrafast electroabsorption dynamics in an InAs quantum dot saturable absorber at 1.3μm

Ultrashort-pulse lasers passively mode locked by quantum-dot-based saturable absorbers

Quantum-dot based saturable absorber with p-n junction for mode locking of solid-state lasers