title: Particle transport in asymmetric scanning-line optical tweezers.
abstract: We describe a scanning-line optical tweezing technique with an asymmetric beam profile in the back focal plane of the microscope objective. The motion of a trapped particle along the scan line is studied as a function of beam asymmetry, and it is shown that this technique can be used to exert a constant lateral force on the particle, realizing purely optical constant-force tweezing. The observed effect is attributed in a geometric optics model to a non-zero lateral component of the scattering force.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Biophysics Research Division, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1120, USA. ben.liesfeld@umich.edu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liesfeld
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nambiar
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Meiners
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D007834:Lasers; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000379:methods; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D013997:Time Factors