Single-beam trapping in front of reflective surfaces

We show that the optical trapping of dielectric particles by a single focused beam in front of a weakly reflective surface is considerably affected by interference of the incident and reflected beams, which creates a standing-wave component of the total field. We use the two-photon-excited fluorescence from a trapped dyed probe to detect changes in the distance between the trapped beam focus as the focus approaches the reflective surface. This procedure enables us to determine the relative strengths of the single-beam and the standing-wave trapping forces. We demonstrate that, even for reflection from a glass-water interface, standing-wave trapping dominates, as far as 5 mum from the surface. (C) 2001 Optical Society of America.