Maximizing the workspace of optical tweezers

Abstract

Scanning Laser Optical Tweezers (SLOT) is an optical instrument frequently employed on a microscope with laser being delivered through its various ports. In most SLOT systems, a mechanical tilt stage with a mirror on top is used to dynamically move the laser focal point in two-dimensions. The focal point acts as a tweezing spot, trapping nearby microscopic objects. By adding a mechanical translational stage with a lens, SLOT can be expanded to work in three-dimensions. When two mechanical stages operate together, the focal point can address a closed three-dimensional volume that we call a workspace. It would be advantageous to have a large workspace since it means one can trap and work on multiple objects without interruptions, such as translating the microscope stage. However, previous studies have paid less consideration of the volumetric size of the workspace. In this paper, we propose a new method for designing a SLOT such that its workspace is maximized through optimization. The proposed method utilizes a matrix based ray tracing method and genetic algorithm (GA). To demonstrate the performance of the proposed method, experimental results are shown.