Can the optical tweezer effect be a problem in interferometry?

Summary form only given. In 1970 it was discovered for the first time that the forces of radiation pressure from lasers can accelerate and trap neutral particles. Since then, based on this effect - "the optical tweezer effect" - researchers have been able to manipulate and trap particles as diverse as atoms, molecules, dielectric spheres with sizes ranging from nanometers to microns, even biological systems such as bacteria, viruses, etc. Normally radiation pressure forces are negligible. However, in systems where intense light intensities are used, such as focused laser beams, they play a very important role. In general a particle can be attracted and trapped very close to the focus of the beam. Furthermore, in systems where the beam is diverging (i.e. an optical fiber) one could also expect the presence of important forces over particles. We study the possibility of trapping of particles by optical fibers like those used in interferometric systems. The calculations presented are applied to a practical real case: the exit of the fiber illuminator of the full aperture metrology system envisioned for the Space-Interferometry-Mission (SIM). It is very important to evaluate this effect in this case, since the presence of particles at the exit aperture would produce strong aberrations of both the optical field intensity and phase fronts, which are crucial in the metrology of the SIM.