Micro-3D printed miniaturized systems for optical trapping and manipulation

Optical tweezers (OT) are non-destructive, contactless tools that use light to trap and manipulate microscopic objects. We design and fabricate miniaturized systems that provide new optical trapping and manipulation tools. Our work takes advantage of the design freedom, flexibility, and high resolution afforded by micro 3D printing based on two-photon lithography. In particular, we present a dynamic counterpropagating beam trapping scheme, exploiting two 3D printed right-angle prism mirrors, and a novel hybrid photonic structure to create fiber optical tweezers.