3D Light-driven Micro-tools with Nano-probes

At DTU Fotonik in Denmark, we have previously proposed and demonstrated microtargetedlight-delivery [1] and the opto-mechanical capabilities of so-called wave-guidedoptical wave-guides (WOWs) [2]. As the microscopic WOWs are optically trapped andmaneuvered in 3D-space, it is important to maintain efficient light-coupling throughthese free-standing waveguides within their operating volume [3]. We propose the use ofdynamic diffractive techniques to create focal spots that will track and couple to the WOWs during full volume operation and with six-degrees-of-freedom. This is done by using a Hamamatsu Photonics LCoS-SLM to encode the necessary diffractive phasepatterns to generate the multiple and dynamic coupling spots. The method is initially tested for a single WOW and we have demonstrated dynamic tracking and coupling for both lateral and axial displacements on our proprietary Biophotonics Workstation.