Optical Tweezers with Bi-Axis Acousto-Optical Deflector for Partical Manipulation

Optical tweezers are an essential tool in several areas of physics, spectroscopy, biology, nanotechnology, and thermodynamics. In 1970, Ashkin uses that a focused laser beam can accelerate, decelerate, and even stably capture micrometer-sized neutral particles. Later, in 1986, Ashkin and his colleagues reported the first implementation of optical tweezers: a highly focused beam of light capable of holding microscopic particles in three dimensions. [1], [2] Thanks to this work, Ashkin was awarded the 2018 Nobel Program in Physics. Optical capture is an important method for monitoring and examining particles on scales from nanometers to millimeters. The operation principle of an optical system with the acousto-optical deflector for automatic particle capture is described. We demonstrate that the developed optical system, due to fast frequency tuning of the acousto-optical deflector, provides particle transportation along an arbitrary trajectory and multiple capture mode.