AI Article Synopsis
- Optical tweezers, invented by Arthur Ashkin in 1986, utilize highly focused laser beams to manipulate and hold small dielectric objects, becoming key tools in biological research.
- Over the years, they evolved into versatile instruments in molecular biophysics, allowing researchers to address a variety of biological problems.
- This introductory chapter outlines the basic principles of optical traps, highlights significant scientific achievements, and discusses measurement techniques crucial for their application in the biological sciences.
Article Abstract
Thirty years after their invention by Arthur Ashkin and colleagues at Bell Labs in 1986 [1], optical tweezers (or traps) have become a versatile tool to address numerous biological problems. Put simply, an optical trap is a highly focused laser beam that is capable of holding and applying forces to micron-sized dielectric objects. However, their development over the last few decades has converted these tools from boutique instruments into highly versatile instruments of molecular biophysics. This introductory chapter intends to give a brief overview of the field, highlight some important scientific achievements, and demonstrate why optical traps have become a powerful tool in the biological sciences. We introduce a typical optical setup, describe the basic theoretical concepts of how trapping forces arise, and present the quantitative position and force measurement techniques that are most widely used today.
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