Analysis and Simulation of Plasmonic Tweezer for Trapping and Detection of Escherichia Coli

Conventional optical tweezers, based on laser beam focusing at the focal point, are powerful tools for controlling and manipulating micrometer samples and particles. As the specimens shrink to the nanometer regime, these tweezers lose their functionality and the need for new methods and structures is realized. One of these methods is to use the field generated by surface plasmons and plasmonic tweezer. These are capable of greatly amplifying the electric field and controlling the light. Optical tweezers can trap particles such as atoms, molecules, biological cells, and even metal particles. In this paper, we investigate a new optical and plasmonic structure for detecting Escherichia coli and numerically analyze and simulate it using Lumerical software. The results are shown the light and surface plasmon can control particle motion and this feature can trap, isolate, or control the path of bacteria, such as Escherichia coli. The structure has the potential to be integrated with the current technology of the microfluidic devices.

Keywords:

Optical Tweezer , Surface Plasmon , Optical Trapping , E. coli.