Design of a high-performance optical tweezer for nanoparticle trapping

Integrated optical nanotweezers offer a novel paradigm for optical trapping, as their ability to confine light at the nanoscale leads to extremely high gradient forces. To date, nanotweezers have been realized either as photonic crystal or as plasmonic nanocavities. Here, we propose a nanotweezer device based on a hybrid photonic/plasmonic cavity with the goal of achieving a very high quality factor-to-mode volume (Q/V) ratio. The structure includes a 1D photonic crystal dielectric cavity vertically coupled to a bowtie nanoantenna. A very high Q/V ~ 107 (λ/n)−3 with a resonance transmission T = 29 % at λR = 1381.1 nm has been calculated by 3D finite element method, affording strong light–matter interaction and making the hybrid cavity suitable for optical trapping. A maximum optical force F = −4.4 pN, high values of stability S = 30 and optical stiffness k = 90 pN/nm W have been obtained with an input power Pin = 1 mW, for a polystyrene nanoparticle with a diameter of 40 nm. This performance confirms the high efficiency of the optical nanotweezer and its potential for trapping living matter at the nanoscale, such as viruses, proteins and small bacteria

Deposition of zinc-zinc phosphate composite coatings on steel by cathodic electrochemical treatment

The present work aims at the development of an energy-efficient and eco-friendly approach for the deposition of zinc phosphate coatings on steel. The study describes the possibility of preparing zinc-zinc phosphate composite coatings by cathodic electrochemical treatment using dilute phosphoric acid as an electrolyte and zinc as an anode. The methodology enables the preparation of coatings with different proportions of zinc and zinc phosphate by suitably varying the applied current density, pH, and treatment time. Adhesion of the coating on mild steel and adhesion of paint film on the phosphate coating were found to be good. The surface morphology of the coatings exhibited platelet-type features and small white crystals (agglomerated at some places) which represented zinc and zinc phosphate, respectively. An increase in current density (from 20 to 50 mA/cm(2)) increased the size of the zinc crystals, and coatings prepared at 40 and 50 mA/cm(2) resembled that of electrodeposited zinc. Since the proportions of zinc and zinc phosphate could be varied with applied current density, pH, and treatment time, it would be possible to use this methodology to prepare coatings that would offer different degrees of corrosion protectio