Photoacoustic tweezers generated by multiple superposed laser pulses in air

doi:10.1088/1674-1056/adf9fd

Abstract We propose a novel method for generating photoacoustic tweezers via multi-ultrasonic resonance in air. In this study, a focused ultrashort laser pulse with a 50 ns pulse width is used to generate ultrasonic resonance by transferring thermal energy to atmospheric H$_2$O in air. Traveling photoacoustic tweezers are generated by modulating the superposition of multiple ultrasonic waves. Through numerical simulations, we obtained the acoustic pressure and temperature fields of the photoacoustic waves. Experimentally, 10 μm microspherical polystyrene particles were placed messily in a 200 μm wide square microfluidic tube. The resulting shapes of the microparticles after manipulation by the photoacoustic tweezers proved that our experimental results align well with theoretical predictions. We demonstrate that the interaction of laser pulses with water vapor can generate both acoustic waves and photoacoustic tweezers.

Keywords: acoustic tweezers laser field modulation photoacoustic photoacoustic tweezers superposition

Received: 11 June 2025
Revised: 30 July 2025
Accepted manuscript online: 11 August 2025

PACS:	43.35.+d	(Ultrasonics, quantum acoustics, and physical effects of sound)
	52.35.Tc	(Shock waves and discontinuities)
	52.38.-r	(Laser-plasma interactions)
	51.40.+p	(Acoustical properties)
	52.35.-g	(Waves, oscillations, and instabilities in plasmas and intense beams)

Fund: This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2024YFA1612002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 12503094, 11973009, and 11933005), the Jiangsu Provincial Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. BE2023080), the fund from Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KGFZD-145-23-04-03), China Postdoctoral Science Found (Grant No. 2025M773196), and CAS Young Entrepreneurship Program of Nanjing Institute of Astronomical Optics and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. E5Q2500005).

Corresponding Authors: Jin-Ping He, Jun Xia
E-mail: jphe@niaot.ac.cn;xiajun@seu.edu.cn

Cite this article:

Guo-Dong Tong(佟国栋), Li-Yan Xu(许立言), Wen-Qi Wang(王雯琦), Jin-Ping He(何晋平), and Jun Xia(夏军) Photoacoustic tweezers generated by multiple superposed laser pulses in air 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 034301

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Photoacoustic tweezers generated by multiple superposed laser pulses in air

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