3D manipulation of particles into crystal structures using holographic optical tweezers

Abstract

We have developed holographic optical tweezers that can manipulate many particles simultaneously in three dimensions in order to create micro-crystal structures that extend over many tens of microns. The technique uses specific hologram-design algorithms to create structures that can be dynamically scaled or rotated about arbitrary axes. We believe the generation and control of pre-determined crystal-like structures have significant potential in fields as diverse as photonic-crystal construction, seeding of biological tissue growth and creation of metrological standards within nanotechnology.