Fig. 5. Experimental demonstration of sorting of chiral particles in a line trap.

a, b Chiral particles with κ > 0 (a) and κ < 0 (b) experience lateral forces to the left (R₁, R₂, and R₃) and right (L₁ and L₂), respectively. Weak coupling particles (labeled F₁, F₂, and F₃) could be affected by the background flow and move with almost the same velocities. Different particles have different velocities due to the different sizes and slightly different chiralities. The laser power used was 1.4 W. The scale bars in a, b equal 100 µm. c Measured velocities of particles with different chiralities under different laser powers. d Measured maximum optical lateral force in each video sequence with varying particle size and polarization of light. The lateral forces have opposite signs under s- and p-polarized beams when the chirality is the same