Radiation pressure efficiency measurements of nanoparticle coated microspheres

Experimental measurements of the radiation pressure efficiency (Qpr) for several microparticles have been compared to theoretical calculations extrapolated from the Bohren-Huffman code for Mie scattering of coated particles. An increased shift of the Qpr parameter was observed for 2 μm SiO2 core particles coated with nanoparticles of higher refractive indices. Coatings of 14 nm melamine particles were found to increase the Qpr parameter 135 times over similar coatings using SiO2 particles of the same size. While a coating of 100 nm polystyrene particles also showed a significant increase, they did not agree well with theoretical values. It is hypothesized that other factors such as increased scatter, drag, and finite coating coverage are no longer negligible for coatings using nanoparticles in this size regime.