Abstract

We demonstrate negative radiation pressure on gain medium structures, such that light amplification may cause a nanoscale body to be pulled toward a light source. Optically large gain medium structures, such as slabs and spheres, as well as deep subwavelength bodies, may experience this phenomenon. The threshold gain for radiation pressure reversal is obtained analytically for Rayleigh spheres, thin cylinders, and thin slabs. This threshold vanishes when the gain medium structure is surrounded by a medium with a matched refractive index, thus eliminating the positive scattering forces.

© 2010 Optical Society of America

Negative radiation pressure and negative effective refractive index via dielectric birefringence

Jonathan Nemirovsky, Mikael C. Rechtsman, and Mordechai Segev
Opt. Express 20(8) 8907-8914 (2012)

Fundamentals of negative refractive index optical trapping: forces and radiation pressures exerted by focused Gaussian beams using the generalized Lorenz-Mie theory

Leonardo A. Ambrosio and Hugo E. Hernández-Figueroa
Biomed. Opt. Express 1(5) 1284-1301 (2010)

Mechanical wave motion due to the radiation pressure on gain or absorptive rods

Tomaž Požar and Janez Možina
Opt. Lett. 38(10) 1754-1756 (2013)

Tailoring optical forces in waveguides through radiation pressure and electrostrictive forces

Peter T. Rakich, Paul Davids, and Zheng Wang
Opt. Express 18(14) 14439-14453 (2010)

Electrostatic theory for designing lossless negative permittivity metamaterials

Yong Zeng, Qi Wu, and Douglas H. Werner
Opt. Lett. 35(9) 1431-1433 (2010)