title: A compact holographic optical tweezers instrument.
abstract: Holographic optical tweezers have found many applications including the construction of complex micron-scale 3D structures and the control of tools and probes for position, force, and viscosity measurement. We have developed a compact, stable, holographic optical tweezers instrument which can be easily transported and is compatible with a wide range of microscopy techniques, making it a valuable tool for collaborative research. The instrument measures approximately 30×30×35 cm and is designed around a custom inverted microscope, incorporating a fibre laser operating at 1070 nm. We designed the control software to be easily accessible for the non-specialist, and have further improved its ease of use with a multi-touch iPad interface. A high-speed camera allows multiple trapped objects to be tracked simultaneously. We demonstrate that the compact instrument is stable to 0.5 nm for a 10 s measurement time by plotting the Allan variance of the measured position of a trapped 2 μm silica bead. We also present a range of objects that have been successfully manipulated.
authors.affiliation: School of Physics and Astronomy, SUPA, University of Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom. Graham.Gibson@glasgow.ac.uk
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Bowman
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linnenberger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dienerowitz
authors.forename: D B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Carberry
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Padgett