Holographic optical tweezers induced hierarchical supramolecular organization

In this paper, the authors demonstrate how holographic optical tweezers (HOT) can be used to control multiple nanocontainers with hitherto unknown precision and flexibility. For this purpose, the wave front of a 2.5 watts Nd:YVO₄ continuous wave laser (λ=1064 nm) is structured in such a way that it creates multiple, independent optical traps when focussed by the high numerical aperture objective of a commercial inverted microscope. Tailoring of the wave front is realized with a computer-controlled phase-only spatial light modulator, which displays a series of holograms, calculated in real-time, and thus allows for interactive, dynamic control of all created traps.