Researchers demonstrate a new type of optical tweezer

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(a). Photograph of microfabricated Fresnel Zone Plate optical tweezer consisting of concentric gold rings (50 nm thick) on a microscope slide. The Zone Plate outer diameter is 100m and the focal length is 8m. (b). CCD camera image of fluorescent bead ...
(a). Photograph of microfabricated Fresnel Zone Plate optical tweezer, consisting of concentric gold rings (50 nm thick) on a microscope slide. The Zone Plate outer diameter is 100¼m, and the focal length is 8¼m. (b). CCD camera image of fluorescent bead (2¼m diameter) trapped in Zone Plate focus. Credit: Ken Crozier, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Researchers at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) demonstrated a new type of optical tweezer with the potential to make biological and microfluidic force measurements in integrated systems such as microfluidic chips. The tweezer, consisting of a Fresnel Zone Plate microfabricated on a glass slide, has the ability to trap particles without the need for high performance objective lenses.


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