OPTICAL FORCE TRAP MICROMANIPULATOR

THE OPPORTUNITY ADDRESSED BY THE PROPOSAL IS TO DEVELOP AN OPTICAL FORCE TRAP MICROMANIPULATOR SUITABLE FOR EVERYDAY USE IN A BIOLOGY LABORATORY. AN OPTICAL FORCE TRAP USES LIGHT FROM A LASER TO EXERT FORCES AND TO MOVE MICROSCOPIC SIZED OBJECTS. BECAUSE THEY USE LIGHT, THEY ARE ABLE TO MANIPULATE LIVING OBJECTS WITHOUT HARMING THEM. THESE CAPABILITIES OPEN UP NEW TYPES OF RESEARCH TECHNIQUES WHERE EXPERIMENTS ARE TARGETED AT INDIVIDUALLY SELECTED CELLS. PREVIOUS WORK WITH OPTICAL FORCE TRAPS WAS DONE BY LASER RESEARCH LABORATORIES USING SPECIALIZED LASER SYSTEMS. THESE LASER SYSTEMS ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERYDAY USE BY A BIOLOGY LABORATORY. MUCH PREFERABLE WOULD BE AN INSTRUMENT BASED ON A SEMICONDUCTOR DIODE LASER. BUT THESE LASERS HAVEPOOR OUTPUT CHARACTERISTICS FOR AN OPTICAL FORCE TRAP INSTRUMENT. THE PRINCIPAL RESEARCH OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED WORK IS TO SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF AN INSTRUMENT BASED ON A SEMICONDUCTOR LASER. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY (1) DEVELOPING SOFTWARE TOOLS FOR PREDICTING THE PERFORMANCE OF OPTICAL FORCE TRAP DESIGNS, AND (2) USING THESE TOOLS TO DESIGN AND INVENT THE OPTICAL SYSTEM TO PRODUCE AN OPTICAL FORCE TRAP FROM A SEMICONDUCTOR LASER OUTPUT. AN INSTRUMENT BASED ON THIS TECHNOLOGY WOULD BE COMMERCIALIZED AS AN ACCESSORY TO AN OPTICAL MICROSCOPE.