On-chip multi-trap optical tweezers based on a guided wave-driven metalens

Optical tweezer arrays (OTAs) have emerged as a powerful tool for quantum simulation, quantum computation, and quantum many-body physics. Conventional OTAs require bulky and costly optical components to generate multiple optical traps, such as spatial light modulators (SLMs). An integrated way to achieve on-chip OTAs is a sought-after goal for compact optical manipulation. In this Letter, we have numerically demonstrated compact on-chip multi-trap optical tweezers based on a guided wave-driven metalens. The presented on-chip optical tweezers are capable of capturing multiple polystyrene nanospheres in parallel. Moreover, we proposed an analytical design method to generate customized focal points from the integrated photonics chip into free space. Different trapping patterns are demonstrated to validate our proposed off-chip emission scheme. Our approach offers a promising solution to realize on-chip optical tweezers and provides a prospective way to realize elaborate emission control of guided waves into free-space beams.