Application of vertical-cavity laser-based optical tweezers for particle manipulation in microfluidic channels

Abstract

The combination of microfluidics and optical manipulation offers new possibilities for particle handling and sorting on a single-cell level in the field of biophotonics. We present particle manipulation in microfluidics based on vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) which constitute a new low-cost, high beam quality nanostructured laser source for optical trapping, additionally allowing easy formation of small-sized, two-dimensional laser arrays. Single devices as well as densely packed linear VCSEL arrays with a pitch of only 24 μm are fabricated. Microfluidic channels with widths of 50 to 150 μm forming T- and Y-junctions are made of PDMS using common soft-lithography. With a single laser, selected polystyrene particles are trapped in the inlet channel and transferred to the desired outlet branch by moving the chip relatively to the optical trap. In a second approach, a tilted, linear laser array is introduced into the setup, effectively forming an optical lattice. While passing the continuously operating tweezers array, particles are not fully trapped, but deflected by each single laser beam. Therefore, non-mechanical particle separation in microfluidics is achieved. We also show the route to ultra-miniaturization of the system avoiding any external optics. Simulations of an integrated particle deflection and sorting scheme as well as first fabrication steps for the integrated optical trap are presented.