3-dimensional plasmonic nanomotors enabled by independent integration of optical pulling and lateral forces

Light–matter interactions generally involve momentum exchange between incident photons and the target object giving rise to optical forces and torques. While typically weak, they become significant at the nanoscale, driving intense research interest in the exploitation of photon recoil to drive micro- and nanostructures. While great progress has been attained in controlling transversal degrees of freedom, three-dimensional movement remains challenging, particularly due to the impractical realization of pulling forces that oppose the direction of incident light. Here we theoretically present a novel nanomotor design that enables independent control over both transverse and longitudinal motion. This design exploits coupling between an azimuthally polarized Bessel beam and a dielectric glass cylinder to realistically achieve optical pulling forces. At the same time, asymmetric plasmonic dimers, embedded within the cylinder, provide lateral motion, through asymmetric scattering under plane wave illumination. We further demonstrate that unwanted displacements and rotations can be restrained, even at long illumination times. Our design unlocks a new degree of freedom in motion control, allowing for pulling, pushing, and lateral movement by simply tuning the polarization or switching between plane waves and Bessel beams.