We propose a Bessel beam optical tweezers setup that can stably trap superparamagnetic beads. The trap stiffness measured is practically independent of the radius of the Bessel beam and of the bead height (distance from the coverlip of the sample chamber), indicating that the beads can be trapped with high accuracy within a wide range of such parameters. On the other hand, the trap stiffness exhibits the expected linear increase with the laser power, despite the non-negligible absorption coefficient of the superparamagnetic beads. A geometrical optics model that considers spherical aberration and light absorption by the beads was used to predict the optical forces and trap stiffness, showing excellent agreement with the experimental data. We believe the results presented here advance the field of optical trapping manipulation of absorbing magnetic particles, and future applications will involve, for example, the design of new hybrid optomagnetic tweezers.

We study the behavior of silicon microparticles in a 1064 nm Gaussian-beam optical tweezers, showing that this semiconductor can be used to perform different types of optical manipulation experiments. Depending on the focal position and the laser power used, the particles can present an oscillatory dynamics in the tweezers or can be stably 3D-trapped with a trap stiffness that allows the application of femtoNewton forces with accuracy. A new, to the best of our knowledge, interpretation based on the photoexcitation of electrons in the valence band is proposed to explain the oscillations, and the quantities associated with such dynamics (e.g., amplitude, period, etc.) were characterized as a function of relevant parameters to optical tweezers setups.

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