Acoustical pulling force on rigid spheroids in single Bessel vortex tractor beams

Chevron, Area 52 Technology – ETC - 5 Bisbee Ct., Santa Fe, NM 87508, USA

^(a) F.G.Mitri@ieee.org

Received: 1 September 2015
Accepted: 31 October 2015

Abstract

The theoretical formalism for acoustical Bessel vortex (helicoidal) tractor beams and results presented here are the first to demonstrate the emergence of a pulling force of attraction on non-spherical oblate and prolate rigid spheroidal particles centered on the beam's axis of wave propagation. Numerical predictions for the axial acoustic radiation force illustrate the theory with particular emphasis on the aspect ratio of the spheroid, the half-cone angle and order of the beam, as well as the dimensionless size parameter. It is demonstrated here that the Bessel vortex beam parameters may be tailored in such a way that the spheroid is pulled against the forward linear momentum density flux associated with the incoming waves. Those results potentially suggest the use of Bessel vortex beams in the development of emergent technologies for non-contact remote sampling and particle characterization.