Rotating levitated nanoparticle sensors in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Hollow-core photonic crystal fibers offer a versatile platform for developing cutting edge optical sensors through particle levitation. Here, the orbital angular momentum mode of such a fiber is utilized to rotate a dielectric nanoparticle, levitated inside the fiber via the gradient force. The rotation frequency, measured from the output intensity modulation caused by the particle rotation, enables sensing of the input power, core pressure, and particle size. Different types of particle dynamics can be obtained by using various orders of angular momentum modes supported by the fiber. At high input power, the system exhibits interesting nonlinear dynamics. Our proposal represents a versatile platform for fiber-based nanoparticle rotation sensing.