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Miniaturized all-fibre probe for three-dimensional optical trapping and manipulation

Nature Photonics volume 1, pages 723–727 (2007)Cite this article

Abstract

Optical tweezers represent a powerful tool for a variety of applications both in biology and in physics. Standard optical tweezers make use of a freely propagating laser beam that is tightly focused near the sample by means of a high-numerical-aperture microscope objective. Most of the limitations associated with the microscope's bulky structure could be overcome by exploiting optical fibres for the delivery of the trapping radiation, provided that proper beam-shaping is performed. Here we present the design and the realization of a miniaturized single-fibre optical tweezer that is able to create a purely optical three-dimensional trap. The tweezer uses engineered fibre structures with microstructured end surfaces, and its effectiveness is demonstrated by trapping 10-µm-diameter polystyrene beads. The optical tweezer is able to provide optical manipulation and analysis of microscale specimens and could be the fundamental building block in future integrated fibre-based devices.

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Figure 1: Fibre structures and tweezer working principle.
Figure 2: Numerical evaluation of the Q factor for three different cutting angles.
Figure 3: Images of the fibre-OT probe.
Figure 4: Trapping image sequence: two polystyrene particles are trapped by the fibre tweezer.
Figure 5: Fluorescence spectra measured by the fibre-probe bundle, with and without the trapped fluorescent bead.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank V. Degiorgio for his advice and for his support for our research. The work was partially supported by an INNESCO grant of CNISM (Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze fisiche della Materia) and by POSEIDON (POR project 2005–2007 by Regione Calabria).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Università della Magna Graecia, BIONEM Lab, Viale Europa, Catanzaro, 88100, Italy

    Carlo Liberale, Francesco De Angelis & Enzo Di Fabrizio

  2. CNISM and Electronics Department, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, Pavia, 27100, Italy

    Paolo Minzioni, Francesca Bragheri & Ilaria Cristiani

  3. Laboratorio TASC-INFM Area Science Park, S.S. 14, km 163.5 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

    Enzo Di Fabrizio

Authors
  1. Carlo Liberale
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  2. Paolo Minzioni
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  3. Francesca Bragheri
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  4. Francesco De Angelis
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  5. Enzo Di Fabrizio
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  6. Ilaria Cristiani
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Contributions

C.L., P.M. and I.C. jointly developed the idea of the probe structure and performed the trapping experiments. C.L and F.B. carried out the numerical simulations. P.M. took care of the fibre bundles preparation, and jointly with E.D.F, F.D.A, C.L. and I.C. completed the probe fabrication processes. C.L., E.D.F. and F.D.A. did the fluorescence measurements. I.C. organized and coordinated all the different phases of the project. The paper was written by I.C. and the Supplementary Information was prepared by P.M.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paolo Minzioni.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary video 1: beam convergence (MPG 2113 kb)

Supplementary Information

Supplementary video 2: trapping (MPG 3630 kb)

Supplementary Information

Supplementary figures S1-S5 and video legends (PDF 1069 kb)

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Liberale, C., Minzioni, P., Bragheri, F. et al. Miniaturized all-fibre probe for three-dimensional optical trapping and manipulation. Nature Photon 1, 723–727 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2007.230

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