title: Mass-manufacturable polymer microfluidic device for dual fiber optical trapping.
abstract: We present a microfluidic chip in Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) for optical trapping of particles in an 80µm wide microchannel using two counterpropagating single-mode beams. The trapping fibers are separated from the sample fluid by 70µm thick polymer walls. We calculate the optical forces that act on particles flowing in the microchannel using wave optics in combination with non-sequential ray-tracing and further mathematical processing. Our results are compared with a theoretical model and the Mie theory. We use a novel fabrication process that consists of a premilling step and ultraprecision diamond tooling for the manufacturing of the molds and double-sided hot embossing for replication, resulting in a robust microfluidic chip for optical trapping. In a proof-of-concept demonstration, we show the trapping capabilities of the hot embossed chip by trapping spherical beads with a diameter of 6µm, 8µm and 10µm and use the power spectrum analysis of the trapped particle displacements to characterize the trap strength.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Coster
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ottevaere
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vervaeke
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Erps
authors.forename: Manly
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Callewaert
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wuytens
authors.forename: Stephen H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De Malsche
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thienpont
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D056656:Lab-On-A-Chip Devices; D008863:Microspheres; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids; D019904:Polymethyl Methacrylate