High-Order Fiber Mode Beam Parameter Optimization for Transport and Rotation of Single Cells

• Main Authors: Zihao Shan, Shunnan Yao, Enfan Zhang, Dun Pi, Wen Cao, Feng Lin, Zhen Cai, Xingkun Wu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: Micromachines
• Subjects: optical manipulation; single cell; high-order fiber mode; multiple optical traps
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/12/2/226

Optical tweezers are becoming increasingly important in biomedical applications for the trapping, propelling, binding, and controlled rotation of biological particles. These capabilities enable applications such as cell surgery, microinjections, organelle extraction and modification, and preimplantation genetic diagnosis. In particular, optical fiber-based tweezers are compact, highly flexible, and can be readily integrated into lab-on-a-chip devices. Taking advantage of the beam structure inherent in high-order modes of propagation in optical fiber, LP₁₁, LP₂₁, and LP₃₁ fiber modes can generate structured radial light fields with two or more concentrations in the cross-section of a beam, forming multiple traps for bioparticles with a single optical fiber. In this paper, we report the dynamic modeling and optimization of single cell manipulation with two to six optical traps formed by a single fiber, generated by either spatial light modulation (SLM) or slanted incidence in laser-fiber coupling. In particular, we focus on beam size optimization for arbitrary target cell sizes to enable trapped transport and controlled rotation of a single cell, using a point matching method (PMM) of the T-matrix to compute trapping forces and rotation torque. Finally, we validated these optimized beam sizes experimentally for the LP₂₁ mode. This work provides a new understanding of optimal optical manipulation using high-order fiber modes at the single-cell level.