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Science 10 May 2002:
Vol. 296. no. 5570, pp. 1101 - 1103
DOI: 10.1126/science.1069571
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Reports

Creation and Manipulation of Three-Dimensional Optically Trapped Structures

M. P. MacDonald,1 L. Paterson,1 K. Volke-Sepulveda,2 J. Arlt,3 W. Sibbett,1 K. Dholakia1*

An interferometric pattern between two annular laser beams is used to construct three-dimensional (3D) trapped structures within an optical tweezers setup. In addition to being fully translatable in three dimensions, the trapped structure can be rotated controllably and continuously by introducing a frequency difference between the two laser beams. These interference patterns could play an important role in the creation of extended 3D crystalline structures.

1 School of Physics and Astronomy, St. Andrews University, North Haugh, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, Scotland.
2 Instituto Nacional de Astro&facute;isica, Optica y Electrónica, Apartado, Postal 51/216, 72000 Puebla, Puebla, Mexico 72000.
3 COSMIC, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ, Scotland.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kd1{at}st-and.ac.uk

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Optically directed molecular transport and 3D isoelectric positioning of amphoteric biomolecules.
D. G. Hafeman, J. B. Harkins IV, C. E. Witkowski II, N. S. Lewis, R. J. Warmack, G. M. Brown, and T. Thundat (2006)
PNAS 103, 6436-6441
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