Single-particle trapping and dynamic manipulation with holographic optical surface-wave tweezers

Optical surface waves have widely been used in optical tweezers systems for trapping particles sized from the nanoto microscale, with specific importance and needs in applications of super-resolved detection and imaging if a single particle can be trapped and manipulated accurately. However, it is difficult to achieve such trapping with high precision in conventional optical surface-wave tweezers. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a new method to accurately trap and dynamically manipulate a single particle or a desired number of particles in holographic optical surface-wave tweezers. By tailoring the optical potential wells formed by surface waves, we achieved trapping of the targeted single particle while pushing away all surrounding particles and further dynamically controlling the particle by a holographic tweezers beam. We also prove that different particle samples, including gold particles and biological cells, can be applied in our system. This method can be used for different-type optical surface-wave tweezers, with significant potential applications in single-particle spectroscopy, particle sorting, nano-assembly, and others. (C) 2021 Chinese Laser Press

Automated summary

This study proposes a new method for accurately trapping and manipulating single or multiple particles in holographic optical surface-wave tweezers. By adjusting the optical potential wells formed by surface waves, the targeted single particle can be trapped while pushing away surrounding particles, and the particle can be dynamically controlled using a holographic tweezers beam. Different particle samples, including gold particles and biological cells, can be applied in this system. This method has significant potential applications in single-particle spectroscopy, particle sorting, and nano-assembly.