Recent Progresses in Optical Trapping and Manipulation

Abstract

A brief overview of optical trapping and manipulation is given followed by a few selected examples to highlight some recent progresses in the mapping of the three-dimensional optical force field on a micro-particle and on a living cell in the case of either a single-beam gradient force trap or a counter-propagating dual-beam trap. A novel approach for simultaneous trapping, stretching, and real-time monitoring of the viscoelasticity of living cell via a fiber-optical dual-beam trap will also be presented along with some preliminary experimental results.