We show that microscopic explosions (cavitation bubbles) can be generated periodically in an optical tweezer. An absorbing microparticle is attracted to the trapping beam waist where it eventually superheats a small volume of liquid resulting in a cavitation bubble that impulsively pushes the particle close to the starting position where the cycle restarts. The bubbles expand and collapse in a timescale on the order of one microsecond and are detected with a high speed video recorder and a fast photodiode. We also present preliminary results on the interaction between two microparticles generating cavitation bubbles in the same optical trap.

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Viridiana Carmona-Sosa, José E. Alba-Arroyo, and Pedro A. Quinto-Su, "Periodic cavitation in an optical tweezer," Proc. SPIE 9548, Optical Trapping and Optical Micromanipulation XII, 95480Q (Presented at SPIE Nanoscience + Engineering: August 10, 2015; Published: 25 August 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2190361.