Apparatus for using optical tweezers to manipulate materials

摘要

An optical system for manipulating biological material without substantial damage to the biological material, the optical system including a source for a laser beam, optics for manipulating the laser beam to form an optical trap, the optical system characterized in that the laser beam has a light wavelength less than infrared light such that the biological material has a weak absorption coefficient for the light wavelength, and the optical trap comprised of an arrangement of optical traps distributed over the biological material to spread power P from the laser beam over a plurality of locations, N, thereby reducing power at each location by P/N.