Theoretical study of the optical manipulation of semiconductor nanoparticles under an excitonic resonance condition.

We theoretically study the mechanical interaction between radiation and a semiconductor nanoparticle, based on a microscopic model of confined excitons. The exerted force is calculated by using the Maxwell stress tensor expressed in terms of the microscopic response field. The numerical demonstrations clarify the following: (1) The enhancement of the force by using electronic resonance is remarkable for a particle with a radius of less than 100 nm for semiconductor materials. (2) The spectral peak position of the exerted force is considerably sensitive to nanoscale-size changes which would be useful for highly accurate size-selective manipulation.