Multiparticle resonant optical sorting using a topological photonic structure

Resonance between light and object is highly desired in optical manipulation because the optical forces reach maximum values in this case. However, in traditional waveguide structures, the resonant interaction also greatly perturbs the incident field and weakens or completely destroys the manipulation on the subsequent particles. In order to avoid this dilemma, we propose to perform optical manipulation in a topological photonic structure. Owing to the topological protection, the light mode can almost keep its original form when an object is being manipulated. Therefore, resonant optical sorting can be achieved in a multiple and high throughput manner. The mechanism and results presented here pave the way for efficient on-chip optical sorting for biophysical and biochemical analysis.