Basic laser tweezers.

Methods Cell Biol

Department of Cell Biology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina 27710, USA.

Published: December 1997

The basic information has been provided here for designing and building a laser tweezers system for force measurements. If force measurements are not required, then the considerations about the analysis system, a fine piezo stage, and stability are less important. For the initial alignment and characterization of the system, red blood cells provide an easily trapped sample. For a difficult test sample, the smaller latex beads (0.15-0.3 micron in diameter) are stable and easy to obtain. Anyone setting up laser tweezers is encouraged to see a working tweezers system and to compare samples with that system. Everyone has a different background, and there may be aspects critical for you that have not been discussed here. More sophisticated systems are described later in this book.

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