title: Kinetically locked-in colloidal transport in an array of optical tweezers.
abstract: We describe measurements of colloidal transport through arrays of micrometer-scale potential wells created with holographic optical tweezers. Varying the orientation of the trap array relative to the external driving force results in a hierarchy of lock-in transitions analogous to symmetry-selecting processes in a wide variety of systems. Focusing on colloid as a model system provides the first opportunity to observe the microscopic mechanisms of kinetic lock-in transitions and reveals a new class of statistically locked-in states. This particular realization also has immediate applications for continuously fractionating particles, biological cells, and macromolecules.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, James Franck Institute and Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Pamela T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Korda
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Grier