Abstract
Ray-Traced Simulation of Radiation Pressure for Optical Lift
When light refracts at a surface, it changes the direction and intensity of the light rays. By Newton's 3rd law, this process imparts a small momentum to the object. This effect can be exploited to manipulate very small objects, by carefully selecting the shape and optical properties of the object. This thesis describes a computational model based on the laws of physics to determine the forces and torques resulting from light interacting with a hemicylindrical particle. This model has been successfully used to predict for the first time a phenomenon called optical lift.
Chair: Joe Geigel (CS)
Reader: Grover Swartzlander (CIS, Physics)
Observer: Hans-Peter Bischof (CS)
Progress
2011-11-08
My thesis defense was a success.
2011-10-28
My thesis defense has been announced, to take place on November 8 at 11am in GOL-3400.
2011-10-07
I met with Joe and Grover and got comments on revising my final report.
