title: Tilt control in optical tweezers.
abstract: Laser trapping of micrometer-sized objects floating in water is investigated through the use of a tilted laser beam. With a change in the tilt direction, the orientation of the trapped object can be easily controlled when the object has an asymmetric body or nonuniform refractive index, such as nanowires, living cells, and so on. The method enables efficient orientation control under laser trapping through a simple setup. This method for tilt control may be useful for high-performance laser trapping in bioengineering and microsurgery in single living cells.
authors.affiliation: Kyushu University, School of Sciences, Department of Physics, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan. masa8scp@mbox.nc.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ichikawa
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
mesh_terms: D002469:Cell Separation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007834:Lasers; D007909:Lenses; D008846:Micromanipulation / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D009038:Motion; D052898:Optical Tweezers