Sharif Digital Repository

Optical tweezers are proven and indispensable micro-manipulation tools. It is very common to use an immersion-assisted high NA objective for optical trapping of micrometer-sized beads. However, such objectives suffer from low working depth range. Here we show, both by theory and experiment, that a dry objective can be utilized for optimal trapping of even sub-micrometer objects. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, we were able to stably trap polystyrene beads with radii of 270 and 175 nm in 3D using an objective with numerical aperture of 0.9. © 2022 Optica Publishing Group  

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are very often used as handles for nanotechnological micromanipulation. In this regard, optical trapping of GNPs is of great importance, in which locating the trapped GNP within the focal spot with nanometer precision is crucial. Very recently, we have introduced a new position detection system for optical tweezers based on moiré deflectometry (MD). Here we show, both theoretically and experimentally, that an MD detection system could provide significantly larger detection sensitivity for a trapped GNP compared to that provided by conventional back focal plane (BFP) detection systems. For instance, for a trapped 200 nm GNP, the detection sensitivity provided by the... 

The force experienced by a neutral dielectric object in the presence of a spatially non-uniform electric field is referred to as dielectrophoresis (DEP). The proper quantification of DEP force in the single-cell level could be of great importance for the design of high-efficiency micro-fluidic systems for the separation of biological cells. In this report we show how optical tweezers can be properly utilized for proper quantification of DEP force experienced by a human RBC. By tuning the temporal frequency of the applied electric field and also performing control experiments and comparing our experimental results with that of theoretically calculated, we show that the measured force is a... 

Optical tweezers are indispensable instruments for applying and measuring Pico-Newton range forces. The magnitude of the exerted force is determined by measuring the displacement of the trapped bead from the center of the trap. Recently, we developed a new detection system for optical tweezers based on Moiré Deflectometry (MD). In this work, we show, both theoretically and experimentally, that the introduced method can be used for detection in the axial direction, as well, with a significantly larger sensitivity compared to the commonly used QPD method. As an example, for a 2.17μm polystyrene bead this method could provide a sensitivity 285% larger than that of the QPD method. © 2019... 

A Gaussian laser beam tightly focused through a high-numerical-aperture objective lens, so-called optical tweezers, is widely used for piconewton-range force spectroscopy. Utilizing a proper value for parameters such as bead size, numerical aperture of the objective, and power of the laser is always a challenge. Here, we show which set of values for the parameters can maximize lateral trapping efficiency. Our results show that for a high-numerical-aperture force spectroscopy, a bead with a diameter of 4–5 µm is suitable, and that for manipulation using large beads, utilizing a proper value for laser power and numerical aperture of the objective is crucial. We present a practical method for... 

Efforts have been made to study the behavior of complex materials in micrometer dimensions with various techniques. One of these methods is the use of optical tweezers for biophysical applications. Red blood cells, as the most abundant blood-forming cells, play an important role in the life of living organisms, and their unique mechanical properties are important. In this report, the study of soft materials is done using light tweezers. This work investigates micrometer particle movements in the optical trap and also, when they are connected to a red blood cell. The tweezers allow the Newtonian fluid viscosity, such as water and glycerin, to measure the mechanical properties of viscoelastic... 

Laser nanomanipulation by metallic nanoparticles, which are smaller than the diffraction limit, has become a great interest, especially in the manipulation of unstained biological samples. However, they are hard to image in bright-field microscopy, because of the diffraction limit. Thus, incorporation of a dark-field microscopy technique with optical tweezers would be an inevitable choice, enforcing the use of the backward scattering detection scheme. Here in this paper, we have taken into account the reflected light from the coverslip along with backscattered light from the trapped particle to validate and reveal some precautions of using this detection scheme, based on Mie-Debye... 

A Gaussian laser beam tightly focused through a high-numerical-aperture objective lens, so-called optical tweezers, is widely used for piconewton-range force spectroscopy. Utilizing a proper value for parameters such as bead size, numerical aperture of the objective, and power of the laser is always a challenge. Here, we show which set of values for the parameters can maximize lateral trapping efficiency. Our results show that for a high-numerical-aperture force spectroscopy, a bead with a diameter of 4–5 µm is suitable, and that for manipulation using large beads, utilizing a proper value for laser power and numerical aperture of the objective is crucial. We present a practical method for... 

Efforts have been made to study the behavior of complex materials in micrometer dimensions with various techniques. One of these methods is the use of optical tweezers for biophysical applications. Red blood cells, as the most abundant blood-forming cells, play an important role in the life of living organisms, and their unique mechanical properties are important. In this report, the study of soft materials is done using light tweezers. This work investigates micrometer particle movements in the optical trap and also, when they are connected to a red blood cell. The tweezers allow the Newtonian fluid viscosity, such as water and glycerin, to measure the mechanical properties of viscoelastic... 

Optical tweezers are indispensable force spectroscopes. The trap stiffness and the linear force range of the instrument determine the working force range of the instrument. Here we show both theoretically and experimentallythat utilizing a circular obstruction at the back focal plane of the objective can significantly increase the maximumlinear force. For instance, utilizing a disk with an obstruction ratio of 0.773 could increase the maximum linearforce by a factor of ∼39 when a 3.4 μm polystyrene bead is trapped. We also show that this simple beam shapingmethod can significantly improve the maximum applicable force per unit power of the laser entering the objectivelens. © 2018 Optical... 

Optical tweezers are proven indispensable single-cell micro-manipulation and mechanical phenotyping tools. In this study, we have used optical tweezers for measuring the viscoelastic properties of human red blood cells (RBCs). Comparison of the viscoelastic features of the healthy fresh and atorvastatin treated cells revealed that the drug softens the cells. Using a simple modeling approach, we proposed a molecular model that explains the drug-induced softening of the RBC membrane. Our results suggest that direct interactions between the drug and cytoskeletal components underlie the drug-induced softening of the cells. © 2018 Optical Society of America  

Optical tweezers have proven to be indispensable micromanipulation tools especially in aqueous solutions. Because of the significantly larger spherical aberration induced by the refractive index mismatch, trapping aerosols has always been cumbersome if not impossible. We introduce a simple but very efficient method for optimized aerosol trapping at a desired depth. We show that a wise selection of the immersion medium and the mechanical tube length not only enables trapping of objects that are known to be untrappable but also provides a way to tune the trappable depth range  

We implement an optical tweezers technique to assess the effects of chemical agents on single bacterial cells. As a proof of principle, the viability of a trapped Escherichia coli bacterium is determined by monitoring its flagellar motility in the presence of varying concentrations of ethyl alcohol. We show that the “killing time” of the bacterium can be effectively identified from the correlation statistics of the positional time series recorded from the trap, while direct quantification from the time series or associated power spectra is intractable. Our results, which minimize the lethal effects of bacterial photodamage, are consistent with previous reports of ethanol toxicity that used... 

In dual-beam optical traps, the precision of position/force measurements is often compromised by crosstalk, i.e. imperfect separation of the two signals. We devise a simple yet very efficient method to perform crosstalk eliminating spatial filtering  

With the success of in vitro single-molecule force measurements obtained in recent years, the next step is to perform quantitative force measurements inside a living cell. Optical traps have proven excellent tools for manipulation, also in vivo, where they can be essentially non-invasive under correct wavelength and exposure conditions. It is a pre-requisite for in vivo quantitative force measurements that a precise and reliable force calibration of the tweezers is performed. There are well-established calibration protocols in purely viscous environments; however, as the cellular cytoplasm is viscoelastic, it would be incorrect to use a calibration procedure relying on a viscous environment.... 

Optical tweezers (OT) are widely used for pico (and femto)-Newton range force measurements. The appropriate choice of the bead size is not well understood for biopolymer stretching applications of OT. We have shown, both by theory and experiment, that wrong choice of the bead size could cause errors as large as 295% in the measured force. We provide a simple map for correct choice of the bead size and the direction of pulling for such applications. There is a good agreement between our theoretical and experimental results