This PDF file contains the front matter associated with SPIE Proceedings Volume 9922, including the Title Page, Copyright information, Table of Contents, and Conference Committee listing.

The Kapitza pendulum is the paradigm for the phenomenon of dynamical stabilization, whereby an otherwise unstable system achieves a stability that is induced by fast modulation of a control parameter. In the classic, macroscopic Kapitza pendulum, a rigid pendulum is stabilized in the upright, inverted pendulum using a particle confined in a ring-shaped optical trap, subject to a drag force via fluid flow and driven via oscillating the potential in a direction parallel to the fluid flow. In the regime of vanishing Reynold's number with high-frequency driving the inverted pendulum is no longer stable, but new equilibrium positions appear that depend on the amplitude of driving. As the driving frequency is decreased a yet different behavior emerges where stability of the pendulum depends also on the details of the pendulum hydrodynamics. We present a theory for the observed induced stability of the overdamped pendulum based on the separation of timescales in the pendulum motion as formulated by Kapitza, but with the addition of a viscous drag. Excellent agreement is found between the predicted behavior from the analytical theory and the experimental results across the range of pendulum driving frequencies. We complement these results with Brownian motion simulations, and we characterize the stabilized pendulum by both time- and frequency-domain analyses of the pendulum Brownian motion.

Seeking to control free rotations of a microsphere in a laser trap, we have created a "Maxwell's demon" that identifies and captures a preferred "up-or-down" polarity of the microsphere. Breaking rotational symmetry, we attach a single "Raleigh-size" nanoparticle to a micron-size sphere, which establishes a "nanodirector" defining microsphere orientations in a trap. With radius <10% of the NIR trapping wavelength (1.064 μm), a polystyrene nanoparticle appended to a ∼1.3 μm glass sphere adds negligibly to scattering of the trapping beam and imperceptibly to forces trapping a doublet probe. Yet, constrained to a large orbit (∼1.5 μm diameter), the weak Raleigh dipole force induced in the nanoparticle imparts significant pole-attracting torques to the probe. At the same time, Brownian-thermal excitations contribute torque fluctuations to the probe randomizing orientations. Thus, we have combined demon control and Boltzmann thermodynamics to examine the intense competition between photonic torques aligning the nanodirector to the optical axis and the entropy confinement opposing alignment when equilibrated over long times for an order of magnitude span in laser powers. To reveal orientation, we developed novel multistep pattern-processing software to expose and enhance weak-diffuse visible light scattered from the nanoparticle. Processing a continuous stream of doublet images offline at ∼700 fps, the final step is to super resolve the transverse XY origin of the scattering pattern relative to the synchronous probe center, albeit limited to "up" state segments because of intensity. Transforming the dense histograms (∼10⁴-10⁵) of radial positions to polar angle (θ) distributions, we plot the results on a natural log scale versus sin(θ) to quantify the photonic potentials aligning the nanodirector to the optical axis. Then guided by principles of canonical thermodynamics, we invoke self-consistent methodology to reveal photonic potentials in the "down" state.

Artificial spin-ice systems have been used to date as microscopic models of frustration induced by lattice topology, as they allow for the direct visualization of spin arrangements and textures. However, the engineering of frustrated ice states in which individual spins can be manipulated in situ and the real-time observation of their collective dynamics remain both challenging tasks. Recently, an analogue system has been proposed theoretically, where an optical landscape confined colloidal particles that interacted electrostatically. Here we realize experimentally another version of a colloidal artificial ice system using interacting magnetically polarizable particles confined to lattices of bistable gravitational traps. We show quantitatively that ice-selection rules emerge in this frustrated soft matter system by tuning the strength of the pair-interactions between the microscopic units. By using optical tweezers, we can control particle positioning and dipolar coupling, we introduce monopole-like defects and strings and use loops with defined chirality as an elementary unit to store binary information.

In this talk we first introduce the use of a levitated nanoparticle in vacuum as a nano-optomechanical system with unprecedented performances. Subsequently, we focus on our efforts in cooling its motion towards mechanical ground state at room temperature. In particular, we present an experiment that combines active parametric feedback cooling with passive resolved side band cooling. We first demonstrate systematic transfer of a single trapped nanoparticle from a load lock to the main vacuum chamber hosting a high-finesse optical cavity and report our latest advances in cooling.

Micsospheres trapped in liquid by so called optical tweezers have been established as useful tools to study microscopic thermodynamics. Since the sphere is in direct contact with the liquid, it is strongly coupled to the thermal bath and its dynamics is dominated by thermal fluctuations. In contrast, here we use an optically trapped nanoparticle in vacuum to study fluctuations of a system that is coupled only weakly to the thermal bath. The weak coupling allows us to resolve the ballistic dynamics and to control its motion via modulation of the trapping beam, thereby preparing it in a highly non-thermal state. We develop a theory for the effective Hamiltonian that describes the system dynamics in this state and show that all the relevant parameters can be controlled in situ. This tunability allows us to study classical fluctuation theorems for different effective Hamiltonians and for varying coupling to the thermal bath ranging over several orders of magnitude. The ultimate goal, however, is to completely suppress the effect of the thermal bath and to prepare the levitated nanoparticle in a quantum mechanical state. Our most recent result indicate that this regime is now within reach.

We report light-driven instability and optomechanical self-oscillation of a fused silica “nanospike” at low gas pressures. The nanospike (tip diameter 400 nm), fabricated by thermally tapering and HF-etching a single mode fiber (SMF), was set pointing at the endface of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) into the field created by the fundamental optical mode emerging from the HC-PCF. At low pressures, the nanospike became unstable and began to self-oscillate for optical powers above a certain threshold, acting like a phonon laser or "phaser". Because the nanospike is robustly connected to the base, direct measurement of the temporal dynamics of the instability is possible. The experiment sheds light on why particles escape from optical traps at low pressures.

Light coupled from a tapered optical fiber is used to excite the morphology dependent whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances of a silica microsphere-cantilever. Using the optomechanical transduction from the WGM supported by the microsphere¹, we can simultaneously detect the thermal Brownian motion of both the microsphere-cantilever and the tapered fiber used for coupling. This allows for active feedback cooling of multiple mechanical modes of the tapered fiber and the microsphere-cantilever using the optical dipole force and a piezo-stack². Stabilisation of the coupling junction by employing simultaneous cooling of both oscillators is also presented², useful for many hybrid WGM systems coupled with a tapered waveguide.

Optomechanical systems, where the mechanical motion of objects is measured and controlled using light, have a huge range of applications, from the metre-scale mirrors of LIGO which detect gravitational waves, to micron scale superconducting systems that can transduce quantum signals. A fascinating addition to this field are free or levitated optomechanical systems, where the oscillator is not physically tethered. We study a variety of nanoparticles which are launched through vacuum (10⁻⁸ mbar) and interact with an optical cavity. The centre of mass motion of a nanoparticle can be cooled by the optical cavity field. It is predicted that the quantum ground state of motion can be reached, leaving the particle free to evolve after release from the light field, thus preparing nanoscale matter for quantum interference experiments.

We investigate a dynamic nonlinear optomechanical system, comprising a nanosphere levitated in a hybrid electro-optical trap. An optical cavity offers readout of both linear-in-position and quadratic-in-position (nonlinear) light-matter coupling, whilst simultaneously cooling the nanosphere, for indefinite periods of time and in high vacuum. Through the rich sideband structure displayed by the cavity output we can observe cooling of the linear and non-linear particle’s motion. Here we present an experimental setup which allows full control over the cavity resonant frequencies, and shows cooling of the particle’s motion as a function of the detuning. This work paves the way to strong-coupled quantum dynamics between a cavity and a mesoscopic object largely decoupled from its environment.

Particle trapping technologies provide the opportunity to study two-dimensional materials that are fully decoupled from substrates. We investigate the dynamics of a rotating micron-scale graphene particle that is levitated in high vacuum in a quadrupole ion trap and probed via optical scattering. The particle is spun to frequencies ranging from hundreds of kHz to above 50 MHz using a circularly polarized laser. We observe phase locking of particle rotation frequency to an applied RF electric field. The rotation frequency can be adjusted by changing the applied field frequency. We discuss prospects for measurements of particle properties enabled by this technique.

The optomechanical properties of a silicon-nitride membrane mirror covered by Alq₃ and Silver layers are investigated. Excitation at two laser wavelengths, 780 and 405 nm, corresponding to different absorptions of the multilayer, is examined. Such dual driving will lead to a more flexible optomechanical operation. Topographic reconstruction of the whole static membrane deformation and cooling of the membrane oscillations are reported. The cooling, observed for blue laser detuning and produced by bolometric forces, is deduced from the optomechanical damping of the membrane eigenfrequency. We determine the presence of different contributions to the photothermal response of the membrane.

Coupled cantilevers are trapped by laser in a 3-mirror configuration. We studied the signal transduction between the cantilevers by laser control. A force or displacement sensor with such laser trapping technique could achieve much higher sensitivity, as high as 3-4 orders as compared to a single cantilever. We also studied the energy transfer processes by laser trapping and manipulation. Rabi oscillations are observed. Quantum analog Landau-Zener Tunneling and Landau-Zener-Stuckelburg interferometry are realized in the classical regime. We have proved that the energy or signals could be transferred from one cantilever to the other in the real-space by laser manipulation. Laser manipulated coupled cantilvers have great potentials in precision measurements and in quantum information processing.

We report on experimental investigations of the dynamics of colliding liquid droplets by combining optical trapping, spectroscopy and high-speed color imaging. Two droplets with diameters between 5 and 50 microns are suspended in quiescent air by optical traps. The traps allows us to control the initial positions, and hence the impact parameter and the relative velocity of the colliding droplets. Movies of the droplet dynamics are recorded using high-speed digital movie cameras at a frame rate of up to 63000 frames per second. A fluorescent dye is added to one of the colliding droplets. We investigate the temporal evolution of the scattered and fluorescence light from the colliding droplets with concurrent spectroscopy and color imaging. This technique can be used to detect the exchange of molecules between a pair of neutral or charged droplets.

Optical trapping of light-absorbing particles in a gas environment is usually dominated by laser-induced thermal or photophoretic forces, which can be orders of magnitude higher than the force due to radiation pressure. Particle guiding with photophoretic forces over large distances in open air was recently realised by an optical pipeline, formed by a vortex laser beam of doughnut-like intensity profile, with a high-intensity ring of light that surrounds a dark core. We are adapting the optical pipeline concept for the purpose of guiding aerosolized particles into the intense focus of a x-ray free-electron laser (XFEL), in order to enable high-efficiency femtosecond x-ray coherent diffractive imaging (CDI). XFEL-based CDI allows single-shot nanometer-resolution imaging, and multi-shot Angstrom-resolution tomography in the case of reproducible nanoparticles, at a time resolution better than 10 femtoseconds. Remarkably, by imaging at timescales shorter than atomic motion, the crucial resolution-limiting effects of radiation damage may be overcome for radiation-sensitive targets such as viruses and biomolecules. Following on our previous work, we are developing an optical first-order Bessel-like beam with a variable-diameter hollow core and an axial-to-lateral aspect ratio up to ~2000, that can be used to guide particles with a spatial precision of less than a few µm over centimetre-long distances. We present the ways to control the beam divergence aiming to focus the stream of particles by thermal forces and forces of radiation pressure, analyse the forces acting on the particle in the beam, and uncover the beam structure and intensity to apply for a real-time experiment with XFEL.

Optical vortex carries an orbital angular momentum together with a spin angular momentum, and it enables us to establish various nanostructures (e.g. chiral nanoneedles, chiral polymeric reliefs, monocrystalline silicon needles) by orbital angular momentum transfer effects. Such nanostructures fabricated by optical vortex illumination will explore new materials sciences technologies, including plasmonic metasurfaces for chiral sensitive imagers and chiral chemical reactors, and bio-MEMS

Interaction between the polarization and spatial degrees of freedom of a light field has become a powerful tool to tailor the amplitude and phase of light beams. This usually implies the use of space-variant photonic elements involving sophisticated fabrication technologies. Here we report on the optical spin–orbit engineering of the intensity, phase, and polarization structure of Bessel light beams using a homogeneous birefringent axicon. Various kinds of spatially modulated free-space light fields are predicted depending on the nature of the incident light field impinging on the birefringent axicon. In particular, we present the generation of bottle beam arrays, hollow beams with periodic modulation of the core size, and hollow needle beams with periodic modulation of the orbital angular momentum. An experimental attempt is also reported. The proposed structured light fields may find applications in long-distance optical manipulation endowed with self-healing features, periodic atomic waveguides, contactless handling of high aspect ratio micro-objects, and optical shearing of matter.

In this work, we show the conversion of a Gaussian beam into an annular vortex beam (AVB) by means of an optical vortex element (OVE). This is a simple phase plate which generates the AVB at a determined distance without the use of external optical elements such as lenses and axicons. We discuss the interesting features and the advantages of the OVE respect to other methods to generate AVB such as the conventional vortex (CV) and the helical axicon (HA). The OVE presents the highest intensity peak respect to both the CV and the HA. Another important feature is that the OVE and the HA maintain a fixed annular radius; in contrast the CV changes the annular radius, while the topological charge is modified. The OVE is displayed on a spatial light modulator (SLM) in order to generate experimentally the AVBs. We demonstrate the features of the AVB generated and measure the high angular velocities achieved due to the angular momentum transfer to 3 μm particles.

We calculate transition amplitudes and cross sections for excitation of hydrogen-like atoms by the twisted photon states, or photon states with more than one unit of angular momentum projection along the direction of propagation. If the target atom is located at distances of the order of atomic size near the vortex center, the transitions rates into $l_f>1$ states become comparable with the rates for standard electric dipole transitions. It is shown that when the transition rates are normalized to the local photon flux, the resulting cross sections for $l_f>1$ are singular near the optical vortex center, i.e., high-multipole excitations take place in the region of zero field intensity near phase singularity. Relation to the "quantum core" concept introduced by Berry and Dennis is discussed.

A photon can carry orbital angular momentum equal to an integer number of the reduced Planck’s constant. This principle expresses itself in geometrical quantization of optical vortex beams, which thus can propagate only in the form of fields having a helically wavefront characterized by an integer valued topological charge. However, one can create an optical vortex beam of an effective fractional charge by combining multiple integer vortices. Here, we investigate this apparent violation of the geometrical quantization of orbital angular momentum of light. Our approach relies on observation of the light-induced motion of a microscopic particle, which thus acts as an optomechanical probe for the optical vortex beam. A fractional topological charge corresponds to an abrupt jump in the helical phase front of the beam. This singularity expresses itself as an off-axis disturbance in the intensity profile, and thus complicates the optomechanical probing. We overcome this problem by distributing the disturbance along the vortex ring, so that a microparticle can continuously orbit due to the orbital angular momentum transfer. We demonstrate theoretically that whatever effort is put into smoothing the fractional vortex ring (as long as the net topological charge is fixed), the particle’s orbital motion cannot be as uniform as in the case of an integer vortex beam. We support this prediction by experimental proof. The experimental technique benefits from the recently introduced “perfect” vortex beams which allow an optically trapped particle to orbit along a constant trajectory irrespective of any topological charge.

Optical trapping has proved to be a valuable research tool in a wide range of fields including physics, chemistry, biological and materials science. The ability to precisely localize individual colloidal particles in a three-dimensional location has been highly useful for understanding soft matter phenomena and inter-particle interactions. It also holds great promise for nanoscale fabrication and ultra-sensitive sensing by enabling precise positioning of specific material building blocks. In this presentation we discuss our research on the effect of the polarization state of the incident laser on the trapping of nanoscale particles. The polarization of the incident light has a pronounced effect on particle behavior even for the simple case of two plasmonic silver nano-particles in a Gaussian trap,. When the incident light is linearly polarized, the particles form an optically induced dimer that is stably oriented along the direction of polarization. However, nanoparticle dimers and trimmers exhibit structural instabilities and novel dynamics when trapped with focused beams of circularly polarized light. The observed dynamics suggest electrodynamic and hydrodynamic coupling. We explore the electrodynamic phenomena experimentally and theoretically and discuss further examples of polarization controlled trapping.

The momentum of light in media has been one of the most debated topics in physics over the past one hundred years. Originally a theoretical debate over the electrodynamics of moving media, practical applications have emerged over the past few decades due to interest in optical manipulation and nanotechnology. Resolution of the debate identifies a kinetic momentum as the momentum of the fields responsible for center of mass translations and a canonical momentum related to the coupled field and material system. The optical momentum resolution has been considered incomplete because it did not uniquely identify the full stress-energy-momentum (SEM) tensor of the field-kinetic subsystem. A consequence of this partial resolution is that the field-kinetic momentum could be described by three of the leading formulations found in the literature. The Abraham, Einstein-Laub, and Chu SEM tensors share the field-kinetic momentum, but their SEM tensors differ resulting in competing force densities. We can show now that the Abraham and Einstein-Laub formulations are invalid since their SEM tensors are not frame invariant, whereas the Chu SEM tensor satisfies relativistic principles as the field-kinetic formulation. However, a number of reports indicate that the force distribution in matter may not accurately represent experimental observations. In this correspondence, we show that the field-kinetic SEM tensor can be used along with the corresponding material subsystem to accurately predict experimental force and stress distributions. We model experimental examples from optical and static manipulation of particles and fluids.

Optical-trapping-based assays can measure individual proteins bind to and move along DNA with sub-nm resolution, and have yielded insight into a broad array of protein-DNA interactions. Unfortunately, collecting large numbers of high-resolution traces remains an ongoing challenge. Studying helicase motion along DNA exemplifies this challenge. One major difficulty is that helicase binding often requires a single stranded (ss)-double stranded (ds) DNA junction flanked by ssDNA with a minimum size and orientation. Historically, creating such DNA substrates is inefficient. More problematic is that data throughput is low in standard surface-based assays since all substrates are unwound upon introduction of ATP. The net result is ~2–4 high-resolution traces on a good day. To improve throughput, we sought to turn-on or activate a substrate for a helicase one molecule at a time and thereby sequentially study many molecules on an individual microscope slide. As a first step towards this goal, we engineered a dsDNA that contains two site-specific nicks along the same strand of the dsDNA but no ssDNA. Upon overstretching the DNA (F = 65 pN), the strand between the two nicks was mechanically dissociated. We demonstrated this with two different substrates: one yielding an internal ssDNA region of 1100 nt and the other yielding a 20-bp long hairpin flanked by 30 nt of ssDNA. Unwinding a hairpin yields a 3-fold larger signal while the 30-nt ssDNA serves as the binding site for the helicase. We expect that these force-activated substrates to significantly accelerate high-resolution optical-trapping studies of DNA helicases.

The plasma membrane serves as protective interface between cells and their environment. It also constitutes a hub for selective nutrient uptake and signal transduction. Increasing evidence over the last years indicates that, similar to eukaryotic cells, lateral membrane organization plays an important role in the regulation of prokaryotic signaling pathways. However, the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are still poorly understood. Spatiotemporal characterization of bacterial signal transduction demands very sensitive high-resolution microscopy techniques due to the low expression levels of most signaling proteins and the small size of bacterial cells. In addition, direct study of subcellular confinement and dynamics of bacterial signaling proteins during the different stages of the signal transduction also requires immobilization in order to avoid cell displacement caused by Brownian motion, local fluid flows and bacterial self-propulsion. In this work we present a novel approach based on the combination of high resolution imaging and optical manipulation that enables the investigation of the distribution and dynamics of proteins at the bacterial plasma membrane. For this purpose, we combine the versatility of holographic optical tweezers (HOT) with the sensitivity and resolution of total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy. Furthermore, we discuss the implementation of microfluidic devices in our integrated HOT+TIRF system for the control of growth conditions of bacterial cells. The capabilities of our workstation provides thus new valuable insights into the fundamental cellular and physical mechanisms underlying the regulation of bacterial signal transduction.

We demonstrate the long time trapping of single DNA molecules in liquids by feedback driven dynamic temperature fields. By spatially and temporally varying the temperature at a plasmonic nanostructure, thermophoretic drifts are induced that are used to trap single nano-objects. A feedback controlled switching of local temperature fields allows us to confine the motion of a single DNA molecule for minutes. The DNA conformation and conformation dynamics are analyzed in terms of a principle component analysis. Current results are in agreement with previous measurements in thermal equilibrium and suggest only a weak influence of the inhomogeneous temperature rise on the structure and dynamics in the trap.

We present the effects of wavelength dependent temperature rise in a femtosecond optical tweezers. Our experiments involve the femtosecond trapping laser tunable from 740-820 nm at low power 25 mW to cause heating in the trapped volume within a homogeneous solution of sub micro-molar concentration of IR dye. The 780 nm high repetition rate laser acts as a resonant excitation source which helps to create the local heating effortlessly within the trapping volume. We have used both position autocorrelation and equipartion theorem to evaluate temperature at different wavelength having different absorption coefficient. Fixing the pulse width in the temporal domain gives constant bandwidth at spatial domain, which makes our system behave as a tunable temperature rise device with high precision. This observation leads us to calculate temperature as well as viscosity within the vicinity of the trapping zone. A mutual energy transfer occurs between the trapped bead and solvents that leads to transfer the thermal energy of solvents into the kinetic energy of the trap bead and vice-versa. Thus hot solvated molecules resulting from resonant and near resonant excitation of trapping wavelength can continuously dissipate heat to the trapped bead which will be reflected on frequency spectrum of Brownian noise exhibited by the bead. Temperature rise near the trapping zone can significantly change the viscosity of the medium. We observe temperature rise profile according to its Gaussian shaped absorption spectrum with different wavelength.

Optically trapped plasmonic nano-heaters are used to mediate efficient and controlled fusion of biological membranes. The fusion method is demonstrated by optically trapping plasmonic nanoparticles located in between vesicle membranes leading to rapid lipid and content mixing. As an interesting application we show how direct control over fusion can be used for studying diffusion of peripheral membrane proteins and their interactions with membranes and for studying protein reactions. Membrane proteins encapsulated in an inert vesicle can be transferred to a vesicle composed of negative lipids by optically induced fusion. Mixing of the two membranes results in a fused vesicle with a high affinity for the protein and we observe immediate membrane tubulation due to the activity of the protein. Fusion of distinct membrane compartments also has applications in small scale chemistry for realizing pico-liter reactions and offers many exciting applications within biology which are discussed here.

Although Ashkin and Dziedzic first demonstrated optical trapping of individual tobacco mosaic viruses in suspension as early as 1987, this pioneering work has not been followed up only until recently. Using human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) as a model virus, we have recently demonstrated that a single HIV-1 virion can be stabled trapped, manipulated and measured in physiological media with high precision. The capability to optically trap a single virion in suspension not only allows us to determine, for the first time, the refractive index of a single virus with high precision, but also quantitate the heterogeneity among individual virions with single-molecule resolution, the results of which shed light on the molecular mechanisms of virion infectivity. Here we report the further development of a set of microscopic techniques to physically deliver a single HIV-1 virion to a single host cell in solution. Combined with simultaneous epifluorescence imaging, the attachment and dissociation events of individual manipulated virions on host cell surface can be measured and the results help us understand the role of diffusion in mediating viral attachment to host cells. The establishment of these techniques opens up new ways for investigation of a wide range of virion-cell interactions, and should be applicable for study of B cell interactions with particulate antigens such as viruses.

An optical two-beam trap, composed from two counter propagating laser beams, is an interesting setup due to the ability of the system to trap, hold, and stretch soft biological objects like vesicles or single cells. Because of this functionality, the system was also named "the optical stretcher" by Jochen Guck, Josep Käs and co-workers some 15 years ago. In a favorable setup, the two opposing laser beams meet with equal intensities in the middle of a fluidic channel in which cells may flow past, be trapped, stretched, and allowed to move on, giving the promise of a high throughput device. Yet, single beam optical traps, aka optical tweezers, by far outnumber the existing optical stretchers in research labs throughout the world. The ability to easily construct an optical stretcher setup in a low-cost material would possibly imply more frequent use of the optical stretching technique. Here, we will outline the design, the production procedures, and results obtained in a fiber-based experimental setup built within an injection molded microfluidic polymer chip. The microfluidic chip is constructed with a three layer technology in which we ensure both horizontal and vertical focusing of the cells we wish to trap, thereby preventing too many cells to flow below the line of focus of the two counter propagating laser beams that are positioned perpendicular to the direction of flow of the cells. Results will be compared to that from other designs from previous work in the group.

Antimicrobial Photodynamic Inactivation (PDI) represents an attractive alternative in the treatment of infections by antibiotic-resistant pathogenic bacteria. In PDI a photosensitizer (PS) is administered to the site of the biological target in order to generate cytotoxic singlet oxygen which reacts with the biological membrane upon application of harmless visible light. Established methods for testing the photoinduced cytotoxicity of PSs rely on the observation of the whole bacterial ensemble providing only a population-averaged information about the overall produced toxicity. However, for a deeper understanding of the processes that take place in PDI, new methods are required that provide simultaneous regulation of the ROS production, monitoring the subsequent damage induced in the bacteria cells, and full control of the distance between the bacteria and the center of the singlet oxygen production. Herein we present a novel method that enables the quantitative spatio-time-resolved analysis at the single cell level of the photoinduced damage produced by transparent microspheres functionalized with PSs. For this purpose, a methodology was introduced to monitor phototriggered changes with spatiotemporal resolution employing holographic optical tweezers and functional fluorescence microscopy. The defined distance between the photoactive particles and individual bacteria can be fixed under the microscope before the photosensitization process, and the photoinduced damage is monitored by tracing the fluorescence turn-on of a suitable marker. Our methodology constitutes a new tool for the in vitro design and analysis of photosensitizers, as it enables a quantitative response evaluation of living systems towards oxidative stress.

Optical micro manipulation of live cells has been extensively used to study a wide range of cellular phenomena with relevance in basic research or in diagnostics. The approaches span from manipulation of many cells for high throughput measurement or sorting, to more elaborated studies of intracellular events on trapped single cells when coupled with modern imaging techniques. In case of direct cell trapping the damaging effects of light-cell interaction must be minimized, for instance with the choice of proper laser wavelength. Microbeads have already been used for trapping cells indirectly thereby reducing the irradiation damage and increasing trapping efficiency with their high refractive index contrast. We show here that such intermediate objects can be tailor-made for indirect cell trapping to further increase cell-to-focal spot distance while maintaining their free and fast maneuverability. Carefully designed structures were produced with two-photon polymerization with shapes optimized for effective manipulation and cell attachment. Functionalization of the microstructures is also presented that enables cell attachment to them within a few seconds with strength much higher that the optical forces. Fast cell actuation in 6 degrees of freedom is demonstrated with the outlook to possible applications in cell imaging.

Yeast glycolysis is one of the best studied metabolic pathways and is a particularly good model system to study oscillatory behaviour, due to the tendency of yeast populations to synchronise their oscillations1. To resolve the question whether isolated yeast cells can oscillate, we studied yeast in micro-fluidic cells, under conditions that prevent cell-cell communication (low cell density, high flow rate). Thus, we could separate oscillations from synchronisation, which is not possible in typical population studies where a population average is monitored (i.e. where only synchronised cultures can be studied). After characterising the yeast oscillations in isolated cells, it is now important to allow cell-cell communication in the system to study the synchronisation characteristics.

A setup, consisting of an optical tweezers system and microfluidic devices coupled with fluorescence imaging was designed to perform a time dependent observation during artificially induced glycolytic oscillations. Multi-channel flow devices and diffusion chambers were fabricated using soft lithography. Automatized pumps controlled specific flow rates of infused glucose and cyanide solutions, used to induce the oscillations. Flow and diffusion in the microfluidic devices were simulated to assure experimentally the desired coverage of the solutions across the yeast cells, a requirement for time dependent measurements.

Using near infrared optical tweezers, yeast cells were trapped and positioned in array configurations, ranging from a single cell to clusters of various symmetries, in order to obtain information about cell-cell communications during the metabolic cycles.

Time-of-flight 3D imaging is an important tool for applications such as remote sensing, machine vision and autonomous navigation. Conventional time-of-flight three-dimensional imaging systems that utilize a raster scanned laser to measure the range of each pixel in the scene sequentially, inherently have acquisition times that scale directly with the resolution. Here we show a modified time-of-flight 3D camera employing structured illumination, which uses a visible camera to enable a novel compressed sensing technique, minimising the acquisition time as well as providing a high-resolution reflectivity map for image overlay. Furthermore, a quantitative assessment of the 3D imaging performance is provided.

Particle–wall interactions are important in biology, micromachining, coagulation studies, and many other areas of science. As a contactless tool, optical tweezers are ideal for measuring these kind of interactions. Here we will present a new method for calculating the non-optical forces acting on a trapped particle using simultaneous position and force detection. Analysis of the particle's Brownian motion when trapped gives a measure of all the forces experienced by the particle. In contrast, measuring only the light's momentum change directly gives the solely optical force. This is achieved measuring the changes in the scattered light. The difference between the forces recorded by the two techniques reveals the external forces acting on the trapped particle. Therefore, by trapping the particle close to a wall, one can study the particle-wall interaction force in details. The simulation were done using the optical tweezer toolbox [1] to find the optical force acting on a particle. The net force was calculated from a Brownian motion’s statistics of a trapped particle in the presence of the exponential external force. By using the proposed method, we were able to successfully reconstruct the external force. The experiment was done on a trapped spherical PMMA particle (d=2.2um) close to the 3D-printed wall. For the particle-wall distance ~0.7um the non-optical force is ~100fN . The experiment and simulation results confirm the efficiency of the proposed method for an external force measurements. [1] Nieminen et al., J. Opt. A 9, S196-S203 (2007).

Optical tweezers can be used as a valuable tool to characterize electrophoretic display (EPD) systems. EPDs are ubiquitous with e-readers and are becoming a commonplace technology where reflective, low-power displays are required; yet the physics of some features crucial to their operation remains poorly defined. We utilize optical tweezers as a tool to understand the motion of charged ink particles within the devices and show that the response of optically trapped electrophoretic particles can be used to characterize electric fields within these devices. This technique for mapping the force can be compared to simulations of the electric field in our devices, thus demonstrating that the electric field itself is the sole governor of the particle motion in an individual-particle regime. By studying the individual-particle response to the electric field, we can then begin to characterize particle motion in ‘real’ systems with many particles. Combining optical tweezing with particle tracking techniques, we can investigate deviations in many particle systems from the single-particle case.

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is the motion of colloidal particles in an inhomogeneous electric field. Accurate determination of dielectrophoresis (DEP) force is important for lab-on-a-chip applications. However current DEP force spectroscopy methods are not suitable for accurately measuring the DEP force for sub-micron particles. A new and facile method is developed to measure the DEP force as a function of the frequency of the electric field for nanoparticles by an ensemble analysis approach. Using the principle of Boltzmann distribution of the concentration of non-interacting particles in a DEP potential field, the new method determines the DEP potential field from the measured time-averaged concentration distribution of fluorescently labeled nanoparticle in the DEP field by confocal fluorescence microscopy. Frequency dependent DEP force is determined by the negative gradient of the DEP potential created by the electric field across gold-film electrodes in a microfluidic setting. This approach is capable of measuring forces at the level of one femto Newton for particles with diameters in the range of 63 nm to 410 nm.

Active matter or self-propelled systems have been attracting growing attention in biological systems such as swimming bacteria as well as artificial swimmers such as self-driven colloids. These systems exhibit interesting effects including an activity-induced self clustering that occurs even when all pairwise particle-particle interactions are repulsive. Due to the size scale of the active particles, tailored landscapes can be created for the particles by means of optical trapping. Using large scale simulations we examine an active matter system of self-propelled disks moving in confined geometries and in quasi-1D periodic and asymmetric saw-tooth landscapes. The system forms a dense cluster when the trapping sites are large, but still exhibits modes of motion along the edges of the clusters. We discuss how these effects could be related to a mechanical version of topological protection. For periodic quasi-1D traps we find that there can be a 1D ordering of the disks with motion occurring along only one dimension. For asymmetric substrates we find an active matter ratchet effect similar that observed previously; however, when strong interactions between the particles are introduced, we find that it is possible to obtain a reversal of the ratchet effect in which the net flow is in the direction opposite to the easy-flow direction of the substrate asymmetry. The ability to produce a reversal of the active ratchet effect suggests that it may be possible to set up a landscape in which different species of active matter particles move in opposite directions.

Swimming bacteria exploit viscous drag forces to generate propulsion in low Reynolds number environments. A rotating helical flagellar bundle can propel the cell body at typical speeds of ten body lengths per second. Not surprisingly, this ability to efficiently swim is preserved even in confining micro-environments which constitute their typical habitat. Quantitative studies would require the ability of fabricating complex environments with controlled geometrical properties. Experimental studies so far were limited to large diameter micro capillaries or 2D confinement. In this last case, E.coli has been shown to swim with an unaltered speed even when the gap size is slightly larger than the cell body thickness. The case of tight 1D confinement is however more challenging requiring 3D fabrication capabilities. Using two-photon polymerization we fabricate 3D microstructures that can confine swimming bacteria in quasi 1D geometries. We observe individual E.coli cells swimming through a sequence of micro-tunnels with progressively decreasing diameters. We demonstrate that E.coli motility is preserved also in tight 1D confinement. Moreover we find that there's an optimal channel diameter for which the increase in flagellar thrust due to 1D confinement can even overcome the increased drag on the cell body resulting in swimming speeds that can be up to 15% larger then the bulk speed.

We study the motion of a Janus particle in an inhomogeneous external temperature field generated by an optically heated gold nanoparticle. The Janus particle consists of a polystyrene particle covered on one hemisphere with a 50 nm gold film. The Janus particle is held in the vicinity of the immobilized gold nanoparticle by photon nudging, which actively propels the Janus particle towards a target. Close to the heat source, the propulsion is switched off. We find an angle dependent repulsion of the particle from the heat source. Further, an angular velocity of the Janus particle is measured, which results in an active polarization of the Janus particle in the temperature field.

Optical tweezing;by photochemistry is a novel concept in the field of optical manipulation. I discuss it in azo-polymer films through theory and experiments. I will show that optical tweezing can be obseved by a photochemical force, e.g. photoisomerization force which leads to a spring type motion. This force is derived from a harmonic light potential that moves the azo-polymer, and it is parenting to optical tweezers since it occurs in the presence of a gradient of light intensity, but it is quite different in the sense that it requires photoisomerization to occur. The azo-polymer’s motion is governed by four competing forces: the photoisomerization force, and the restoring optical gradient and elastic forces, as well as the random forces due to spontaneous diffusion.

Optical trapping has enabled studying a wide variety of questions and systems in chemistry, biology, physics, and materials science. For example, optical trapping has been used to understand hydrodynamic interactions in dilute and dense colloidal fluids and discover connections to granular materials. In this presentation we show that shaped optical fields and gradients can be used to study the electrodynamic interactions amongst nanoparticles (NPs) and drive them into new ordered states. We demonstrate the formation and use of NP-based optical matter to study a range of nonequilibrium phenomena in solution; field-driven barrier crossing phenomena and noise-driven ordering. Optical matter, a material that forms only in the presence of an optical field, involves NP interactions by optical scattering and interference. Metal NPs can be formed into regular arrangements in minimally shaped fields; e.g., in focused Gaussian beams, line traps, and optical ring traps. Inter-particle interactions and motions are also affected when the optical matter is driven. Particles recirculate in an optical ring vortex trap allowing long term measurements to examine rare events. In particular, particles can hop between optical binding sites, move past electrodynamic obstacles or pass each other while moving around the ring. The polarization state of the optical beam can be used to produce periodic variations of the NP electrodynamic interactions. As particles circulate this “noise” causes NP clusters to be less stable as if the temperature of the system is increased. Conversely, we observe noise-driven ordering in dense systems. We will explain these phenomena using simulations and theory.

We report on an experimental and theoretical study of optical binding of polystyrene sphere pairs illuminated by retro-reflected wide Gaussian beam, so-called "tractor beam". We show that depending on configuration of particle pairs, optically bound structure in the "tractor beam" can be pushed or pulled against the beam propagation. We employ holographic video microscopy to analyse object positions in three dimensions and their time evolution. In such a way, we investigate their dynamics in dependence on the geometrical configuration that is compared with numerical simulations. We observe strong dependence of the particle pair motion on the relative distance of the particles.

We conduct the optical trapping and assembling of polystyrene particles at the glass/solution interface by utilizing tightly focused 1064 nm laser of high power. Previously we reported that this leads to form the assembly sticking out horns consisting of single row of aligned particles through light propagation. Here, we demonstrate the laser power dependence of this phenomenon. With increasing the laser power, the particles are started to distribute around the focal spot and form the assembly larger than focal spot. The shape of the assembly becomes ellipse-like and the color at the central part of the assembly in transmission images is changed. This indicates that the assembly structure is changed, and trapping laser is started to propagate through the adjoining particles leading to horn formation. Strong laser power is necessary to elongate the horns and to align them straightly. We expect that this study will offer a novel experimental approach for assembling and crystallization of nanoparticles and molecules exclusively by optical trapping.

Optical binding occurs when micron-sized particles interact through the exchange of scattered photons. It has been observed both in systems of colloidal dielectric particles and between metallic nanoparticles, and can result in the formation of clusters and coupled dynamical behaviour. Optical binding between spherical particles has been studied in some detail, but little work has appeared in the literature to describe binding effects in lower symmetry systems. In the present paper we discuss recent theoretical work and computer simulations of optical binding effects operating between dielectric nanowires in counter propagating beams. The reduction in symmetry from simple spheres introduces new opportunities for binding, including different types of orientational ordering and anisotropies in the spatial arrangements that are possible for the bound particles. Various ordered configurations are possible, including ladder-like structures and oriented lattices. The stability of these structures to thermal perturbations will be discussed. Asymmetric arrangements of the nanowires are also possible, as a consequence of interactions between the nanowires and the underlying counter-propagating laser field. These configurations lead to a diversity of non-conservative effects, including uniform translation in linearly polarised beams and synchronous rotations in circularly polarised beams, suggesting potential applications of such bound structures in micro-machines.

Optical binding occurs when systems of both dielectric particles are illuminated by intense light fields, and results in the formation of clusters and coupled dynamical behaviour. Optical binding between spheres has been studied extensively, but little has appeared in the literature describing binding in lower symmetry systems. Here we discuss computer simulations of optical binding between hypothetical knotted nanowires. The knots chosen are drawn from the class of knots known as torus knots which may be represented with n-fold chiral rotational symmetry. We examine the binding properties of the knots in circularly polarised counter propagating beams.

We report long-range optical binding of multiple polystyrene nanoparticles (100-600 nm in diameter) at fixed interparticle distances that match multiples of the half-beat-lengths between the lowest order modes of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Analysis suggests that each nanoparticle converts the incoming optical mode into a superposition of co-propagating modes, within the beat pattern of which further particles can become trapped. Strikingly, the entire particle arrangement can be moved over a distance of several cm, without changing the inter-particle spacing, by altering the ratio of backward-to-forward optical power. Potential applications are in multi-dimensional nanoparticle-based quantum optomechanical systems.

Brownian ratchets are of fundamental interest in fields from statistical physics to molecular motors. The realization of Brownian ratchets in engineered systems opens up the potential to harness thermal energy for directed motion, with applications in transport and sorting of nanoparticles. Implementations based on optical traps provide a high degree of tunability along with precise spatiotemporal control. Near-field optical methods provide particular flexibility and ease of on-chip integration with other microfluidic components. Here, we demonstrate the first all-optical, near-field Brownian ratchet. Our approach uses an asymmetrically patterned photonic crystal and yields an ultra-stable trap stiffness of 253.6 pN/nm-W, 100x greater than conventional optical tweezers. By modulating the laser power, optical ratcheting with transport speed of ~1 micron/s can be achieved, allowing a variety of dynamical lab-on-a-chip applications. The resulting transport speed matches well with the theoretical prediction.

Optical trapping serves as a powerful tool for the manipulation of matter on the nanoscale and ultra-precise measurement of weak forces. However, the applicability of these tools is limited by the available laser power and trap efficiency. We utilized the strong confinement of light in a slot-graphite photonic crystal to develop high-efficiency parallel trapping over a large area. The stiffness is several orders of magnitude higher than conventional optical tweezers and two orders of magnitude higher than our previously demonstrated on-chip, near field traps. We demonstrate the ability to trap both dielectric and metallic nanoparticles of sub-micron size. We find that the growth kinetics of nanoparticle arrays on the slot-graphite template depends on particle size. Smaller particles diffuse more, more readily occupying the available trap sites and inhibiting the trapping of larger particles. Smaller particles also sink more into the holes in the photonic crystal, resulting in stronger mechanical confinement and a deeper potential well. We use these differences to selectively trap one type of particle out of a binary colloidal mixture, creating an efficient optical sieve. This technique has rich potential in the fields of trace analysis, optical diagnostics, and enrichment and sorting of microscopic entities and molecules.

The International Space Station (ISS) is an unparalleled laboratory for studying colloidal suspensions in microgravity. The first colloidal experiments on the ISS involved passive observation of suspended particles, and current experiments are now capable of observation under controlled environmental conditions; for example, under heating or under externally applied magnetic or electric fields. Here, we describe the design of a holographic optical tweezers (HOT) module for the ISS, with the goal of giving ISS researchers the ability to actively control 3D arrangements of particles, allowing them to initialize and perform repeatable experiments. We discuss the design’s modifications to the basic HOT module hardware to allow for operation in a high-vibration, microgravity environment. We also discuss the module’s planned particle tracking and routing capabilities, which will enable the module to remotely perform pre-programmed colloidal and biological experiments. The HOT module’s capabilities can be expanded or upgraded through software alone, providing a unique platform for optical trapping researchers to test new tweezing beam configurations and routines in microgravity.

Four-wave mixing can be used for all-optical wavelength conversion to manipulate communication channels in wavelength division multiplexing. Most wavelength conversion techniques rely on small intrinsic optical nonlinearities, leading to the low conversion efficiency and high energy usage while requiring a long light-matter interaction lengths. Here, we demonstrate a resonantly enhanced nonlinear process by introducing the vibrational excitation, where the electrostrictive force excites the acoustic modes of nanoparticles and induces a travelling periodic variation in refractive index of the sample. We show experimentally and theoretically strong nanoparticle resonances ranging from tens of GHz to THz, which can be utilized to achieve higher frequency conversion for fast all-optical data processing.

In plasmon nano-optical tweezers, plasmonic nanoantennas are illuminated to generate highly localized and enhanced electromagnetic field in the vicinity of the nanoantenna. The highly localized and enhanced electromagnetic field creates much stronger optical gradient forces and tighter potential wells for confining particles than in conventional optical tweezers, thus providing a means to trap nanoscale objects and molecules. This approach have been successfully applied for trapping small particles such as protein molecules. However a long standing problem in this field is how to rapidly load the potential well without relying on Brownian diffusion. Conventional design rely on Brownian diffusion to load the trap, which is very slow and could take several minutes to hours depending on the concentration of the nanoscale objects. Furthermore since the plasmonic trapping sites are pre-patterned on a substrate, current plasmonic nanotweezers suffer from the problem of lack of dynamic control over the particles in the trap. Recently we have addressed these challenges by introducing a novel design paradigm known as the Hybrid Electrothermoplasmonic Nanotweezer (HENT)1, where the intrinsic photo-induced heating of the plasmonic nanoantenna is combined with an applied AC electric field to induce a large scale microfluidic flow on-demand. The microfluidic flow enables rapid delivery of suspended nanoparticles to an illuminated plasmonic nanoantenna where they are trapped within a few seconds. In this talk I will discuss the working principle of HENT, as well as HENT-based nanotweezers utilizing alternative plasmonic materials.

Double nanohole optical tweezers allow for trapping of nanoparticles down to single digit nanometer range, including individual proteins, viruses, DNA fragments and quantum dots. Here we demonstrate dual magnetic force / optical force analysis for the characterization of magnetic nanoparticles. From this single platform we can isolate individual nanoparticles and determine their size, permeability, remanence and permittivity. This is of interest for characterizing magnetic nanoparticles in mixtures, isolating ones of desired characteristics and pick-and-place assembly of magnetic nanoparticles in nanoscale magnetic devices. The magnetic nanoparticle is characterized by analysis of the optical transmission through a double-nanohole aperture with an applied magnetic gradient force. The optical transmission step at trapping, autocorrelation of transmission intensity, distribution of transmission values and variations with applied magnetic field amplitude provide information of individual magnetic nanoparticles that allows for determining their individual material characteristics. The values obtained agree well with past published values for iron oxide, and the size distribution over repeated measurements matches well with scanning electron microscope characterization (and manufacturer specifications).

A plasmonic nanoparticle trap based on an array of nanoring structures with a 160 nm inner disk inside a 300 nm nanohole was demonstrated. Based on the extinction coefficient spectrum, 980 nm incident light was selected to trap 500 nm polystyrene particles. The transmitted intensity was collected for the power spectral density calculation to obtain the corner frequency. Compared to a conventional optical tweezers, approximately 20 times lower incident power is needed for this nanoring device to achieve the same trapping strength.

Note from the author: With further experiments, we realized that at a higher incident power (as in the original proceeding, 1.45 mW) two-particle trapping events could happen and result in a higher value for the trap stiffness for the plasmonic tweezers. To eliminate two-particle trapping events, we have applied a lower incident power (0.6 mW) to guarantee single particle trapping and checked images of the trapped particle with a CCD camera. For a proper comparison to conventional optical tweezers, we updated the value of trap stiffness for our plasmonic tweezers for single, 0.5 µm polystyrene particle trapping at low incident power.

Semiconductor nanocrystals (quantum dots, QDs) represent a milestone in the field of luminescent nanoparticles owing to their unique optical properties. Silica encapsulation of colloidal QDs in optimized synthetic conditions provides an excellent method to reduce their cytotoxicity maintaining, at the same time, their optical properties.1 The ability to optically confine and spatially control these biocompatible nanostructures in liquid media boosts their investigation for bioimaging both as an ensemble as well as at a single particle-level. In this study we explore the optical trapping of silica-encapsulated QDs in a near infrared counter-propagating experimental configuration.2 Optically trapped QDs exhibit two photon-absorption mediated luminescence without additional excitation sources.3,4 We find that the luminescence, collected through one objective, evidences photo-bleaching and wavelength blue-shifts depending on the dispersive medium composition and power density in the laser focus.

Photonic membranes (PMs) are thin, highly-flexible, membranes which can be imbued with specific photonic functionalities when used to play host to plasmonic features.^1–3 PMs can then take that photonic functionality and transfer it to an external object, provided that they can be manipulated with enough precision. We demonstrate a fabrication and optical manipulation protocol that allows PMs to be manoeuvred through a microfluidic environment, and show that the trap stiffness of such a scheme is on par with current techniques. The PMs shown here are 90 nm thick, with the potential to be extremely flexible. We comment on their current deformability.

Rotational control over optically trapped particles has gained significant prominence in recent years. The marriage between light fields possessing optical angular momentum and the material properties of microparticles has been useful to controllably spin particles in liquid, air and vacuum. The rotational degree of freedom adds new functionality to optical traps: in addition to allowing fundamental tests of optical angular momentum, the transfer of spin angular momentum in particular can allow measurements of local viscosity and exert local stresses on cellular systems. We demonstrate optical trapping and controlled rotation of nanovaterite crystals. These particles represent the smallest birefringent crystals ever trapped and set into rotation. Rotation rates of up to 5kHz in water are recorded, representing the fastest rotation to date for dielectric particles in liquid. Laser-induced heating results in the superlinear behaviour of the rotation rate as a function of trap power. We study both the rotational and translational modes of trapped nanovaterite crystals. The particle temperatures derived from those two optomechanical modes are in good agreement, which is supported by a numerical model revealing that the observed heating is dominated by absorption of light by the particles rather than by the surrounding liquid. A comparison is performed with trapped silica particles of similar size. The use of nanovaterite particles open up new studies for levitated optomechanics in vacuum as well as microrheological properties of cells or biological media. Their size and low heating offers prospects of viscosity measurements in ultra-small volumes and potentially simpler uptake by cellular media.

A polarization singularity mode offers a unique tool for actuating an array of birefringent calcite crystals, and measurement of the rotation rates of these crystals is in turn a way to image modes with varying polarization. In this work, we show the calculated and measured rotation rates of individual calcite crystals in a C-point mode and their dependence on three key factors: polarization, mode intensity profile, and crystal size. The C-point is a polarization singularity mode in which the mode has a circularly polarized center surrounded by elliptically polarized regions, with the orientation of the ellipse varying azimuthally and the degree of ellipticity changing radially. The beam is focused into an optical trapping region, and micron-sized birefringent calcite crystals in solution are positioned at key points in the mode. The crystals experience different torques at each location. The spin angular momentum of the light is proportional to the degree of ellipticity and to the intensity at each point in the mode. Our technique for generating C-point modes results in an intensity profile with a nonlinear radial dependence. Our crystal growth process generates crystals of varying width and thickness; the crystal size and shape affect the drag forces and light torque acting on them. We explain the crystal growth process and estimations of torque, demonstrate the rate and direction of rotation of calcite crystals placed at different points in the laser mode, and discuss the difference between the estimated and measured rotation rates.

Filamentation of femtosecond laser pulse in optical vortex on wavelength 800 nm in fused silica is numerically studied. Spatio-temporal intensity distributions, fluence distributions and frequency-angular spectra for optical vortex and circular beam are obtained. It is shown that filamentation in optical vortex may tend to formation of stable cylindrical structure, which length is greater than in linear case. Parameters of this structure are presented. Comparative analysis with circular beam is done, estimations of energy transformation into stokes and antistokes spectral domains are calculated.

Trajectories of spherical dielectric particles carried across an optical standing wave by a flowing medium are investigated. Trajectories are determined by a three-dimensional Monte Carlo calculation that includes drag forces, Brownian motion, and optical gradient forces. We analyze the case of polystyrene particles with radii of order 100 nm carried across a Gaussian-mode standing wave by slowly flowing air. Particles are injected into the flowing air from a small source area such as the end of a capillary tube. Different sizes are dispersed continuously in space on the opposite side of the standing wave, demonstrating a practical way to sort particles. Certain discrete values of particle size show no interaction with the optical field, independent of intensity. These particles can be sorted with exceptionally high resolution. For example, particles with radii of 275 nm can be sorted with 1 nm resolution. This sorting scheme has the advantages of accommodating a high throughput, producing a continuous stream of continuously dispersed particles, and exhibiting excellent size resolution. The Monte Carlo results are in agreement with those obtained by a much simpler, and faster, fluid calculation based on effective velocities and effective diffusion coefficients, both obtained by averaging trajectories over multiple fringes of the optical field.

In this work we demonstrate the increasing of the trap stiffness (spring constant) constant of an optical trap of particles suspended in water by laser-induced convection currents. These currents are the result of thermal gradients created by a light absorption in a thin layer of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a:Si-H) deposited at the bottom of cell. Since convection currents (and therefore drag forces) are symmetric around the beam focus particles trapped by the beam are further contained. Around the focus the drag force is directed upwards and partially compensated by radiation pressure depending on the laser power increasing the stiffness of the optical trapping increases significatively so a particle trapped could dragged (by moving the translation stage leaving the beam fixed) at velocities as high as 90μm/s without escaping the trap, whereas with no a:Si-H film, the particle escapes from the trap at lower velocities (30μm/s).

For numerous applications in science and engineering, the development of technologies for assembling and manipulating macro-, micro-, and nano-objects by means of laser light is of high interest. Most of these attractive forces require dielectric particles they can act on. In recently published papers, a negative light pressure was predicted which acts on metallic bodies if these are separated by a subwavelength slit and which arises from surface plasmon interaction between the metallic bodies^1,2. An experimental demonstration of this force has not yet been carried out. First theoretical calculations showed that, for example, a laser power of 100 mW which is fully absorbed in the slit of a laser with a wavelength of 1550 nm would, in a slit having a width of half the wavelength, generate a force of about 1 nN. However, this is roughly three times the force of the radiation pressure of about 0.33 nN.

In this work, we present an experimental setup to measure this force, together with results of refined theoretical calculations and with preliminary results achieved with the experimental setup.

Interactions between trapped microspheres have been studied in two geometries so far: (i) using line optical tweezers and (ii) in traps using two counter propagating laser beams. In both trap geometries, the stable inter bead separations have been attributed to optical binding. One could also trap two such beads in a single beam Gaussian laser trap. While there are reports that address this configuration through theoretical or simulation based treatments, there has so far been no detailed experimental work that measures the interactions.

In this work, we have recorded simultaneously the fluctuation spectra of two beads trapped along the laser propagation direction in a single Gaussian beam trap by measuring the back scattered signal from the trapping and a tracking laser beam that are counter propagating . The backscattering from the trapping laser monitors the bead encountered earlier in the propagation path. The counter propagating tracking laser, on the other hand, is used to monitor the fluctuations of the second bead. Detection is by using quadrant photo detectors placed at either end. The autocorrelation functions of both beads reveal marked departures from that obtained when there is only one bead in the trap. Moreover, the fall-off profiles of the autocorrelation indicates the presence of more than one relaxation time. This indicates a method of detecting the presence of a second bead in a trap without directly carrying out measurements on it. Further, a careful analysis of the relaxation times could also reveal the nature of interactions between the beads.

In this paper will be reported the principal results about absolute calibration of optical tweezers that we have published at reference.¹

A key goal in the conservation of endangered species is to increase successful reproduction. In cases where traditional methods of in vitro fertilization are unsuccessful, new methods of assisted reproduction are needed. One option is selective fertilization via optically trapped sperm. A more passive option is red light irradiation. Red light irradiation has been shown to increase sperm motility, thus increasing fertilizing potential. However, there is some concern that exposure to laser irradiation induces the production of oxidative species in cells, which can be damaging to DNA. In order to test the safety of irradiating sperm, sperm samples were exposed to 633 nm laser light and their DNA were tested for oxidative damage. Using fluorescence microscopy, antibody staining, and ELISA to detect oxidative DNA damage, it was concluded that red light irradiation does not pose a safety risk to sperm DNA. The use of red light on sperm has potential in both animal conservation and human reproduction techniques. This method can also be used in conjunction with optical trapping for viable sperm selection.

Tapered optical fibers can deliver guided light into and carry light out of micro/nanoscale systems with low loss and high spatial resolution, which makes them ideal tools in integrated photonics and microfluidics. Special geometries of tapered fibers are desired for probing monolithic devices in plane as well as optical manipulation of micro particles in fluids. However, for many specially shaped tapered fibers, it remains a challenge to fabricate them in a straightforward, controllable, and repeatable way. In this work, we fabricated and characterized two special geometries of tapered optical fibers, namely fiber loops and helices, that could be switched between one and the other. The fiber loops in this work are distinct from previous ones in terms of their superior mechanical stability and high optical quality factors in air, thanks to a post-annealing process. We experimentally measured an intrinsic optical quality factor of 32,500 and a finesse of 137 from a fiber loop. A fiber helix was used to characterize a monolithic cavity optomechanical device. Moreover, a microfluidic "roller coaster" was demonstrated, where microscale particles in water were optically trapped and transported by a fiber helix. Tapered fiber loops and helices can find various applications ranging from on-the-fly characterization of integrated photonic devices to particle manipulation and sorting in microfluidics.

In this work, we developed fiber based optical trapping system and explored its applications in biology and physics. We aim to replace objective lenses with optical fibers, both for optical trapping and particle position detection. Compared with objective lens based counterparts, fiber based optical trapping systems are small, low-cost, integratable, independent of objective lenses, and can work in turbid mediums. These advantages make fiber optical trapping systems ideal for applications in tightly confined spaces as well as integration with various microscopy techniques.

We demonstrate the applications of fiber optical trapping systems in both single-cell mechanics and microrheology study of asphalt binders. Fiber optical trapping system is being used to study mechanical properties of viscoelastic hydrogel, as an important extra cellular matrix (ECM) material that is used to understand the force propagation on cell membranes on 2D substrates or in 3D compartments. Moreover, the fiber optical trapping system has also been demonstrated to measure the cellular response to the external mechanical stimuli. Direct measurements of cellular traction forces in 3D compartments are underway. In addition, fiber optical trapping systems are used to measure the microscale viscoelastic properties of asphalt binders, in order to improve the fundamental understanding of the relationship between mechanical and chemical properties of asphalt binders. This fundamental understanding could help targeted asphalt recycling and pavement maintenance. Fiber optical trapping systems are versatile and highly potential tools that can find applications in various areas ranging from mechanobiology to complex fluids.

The success of optical tweezers in cellular biology¹ is in part due to the wide range of forces that can be applied, from femto- to hundreds of pico-Newtons; nevertheless extending the range of applicable forces to the nanoNewton regime opens access to a new set of phenomena that currently lie beyond optical manipulation.

A successful approach to overcome the conventional limits on trapping forces involves the optimization of the trapped probes. Jannasch et al.² demonstrated that an anti-reflective shell of nanoporous titanium dioxide (aTiO₂, n_shell = 1.75) on a core particle made out of titanium dioxide in the anatase phase (cTiO₂, n_core = 2.3) results in trappable microspheres capable to reach forces above 1 nN.

Here we present how the technique can be further improved by coating the high refractive index microspheres with an additional anti-reflective shell made out of silica (SiO₂). This external shell not only improves the trap stability for microspheres of different sizes, but also enables the use of functionalization techniques already established for commercial silica beads in biological experiments.

We are also investigating the use of these new microspheres as probes to measure adhesion forces between intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) and lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) in effector T-Cells and will present preliminary results comparing standard and high-index beads.

A novel mathematical model is developed to investigate the behavior of thermally generated microbubbles in the presence of optical radiation to understand the mechanism of their steering. Forces acting on a bubble are studied in detail using a general force model. It has been proposed that these microbubbles with agglomerated metallic nanoparticles can be used for targeted drug delivery. The model can be extended to include the steering of bubbles with agglomerated silver or gold nanoparticles on their surface.

There exists a tradeoff between the mechanical resonant frequency (f_m) and the mechanical quality factor (Q_m) of a nanomechanical transducer, which resulted in a tradeoff between the band width and sensitivity. Here, we present monolithic silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) cavity optomechanical transducer, in which high f_m and Q_m are achieved simultaneously. A nanoscale tuning fork mechanical resonator is near-field coupled with a microdisk optical resonator, allowing the displacement of mechanical resonator to be optically read out. Compared with a single beam with same length, width, and thickness, the tuning fork simultaneously increases f_m and Q_m by up to 1.4 and 12 times, respectively. A design enabled, on-chip stress tuning method is also demonstrated. By engineering the clamp design, we increased the stress in the tuning fork by 3 times that of the Si₃N₄ film. A fundamental mechanical in-plane squeezing mode with f_m ≈ 29 MHz and Q_m ≈ 2.2×10⁵ is experimentally achieved in a high-stress tuning fork device, corresponding to a f_mQ_m product of 6.35×10¹² Hz. The tuning fork cavity optomechanical sensors may find applications where both temporal resolution and sensitivity are important such as atomic force microscopy.

Optical tweezers offer certain advantages such as multiplexing using a programmable spatial light modulator, flexibility in the choice of the manipulated object and the manipulation medium, precise control, easy object release, and minimal object damage. However, automated manipulation of multiple objects in parallel, which is essential for efficient and reliable formation of micro-scale assembly structures, poses a difficult challenge. There are two primary research issues in addressing this challenge. First, the presence of stochastic Langevin force giving rise to Brownian motion requires motion control for all the manipulated objects at fast rates of several Hz. Second, the object dynamics is non-linear and even difficult to represent analytically due to the interaction of multiple optical traps that are manipulating neighboring objects. As a result, automated controllers have not been realized for tens of objects, particularly with three dimensional motions with guaranteed collision avoidances. In this paper, we model the effect of interacting optical traps on microspheres with significant Brownian motions in stationary fluid media, and develop simplified state-space representations. These representations are used to design a model predictive controller to coordinate the motions of several spheres in real time. Preliminary experiments demonstrate the utility of the controller in automatically forming desired arrangements of varying configurations starting with randomly dispersed microspheres.