Optimizing the optical trapping stiffness of holographically trapped miJourcrorods using high-speed video tracking

D B Phillips, D M Carberry, S H Simpson, H Schäfer, M Steinhart, R Bowman, G M Gibson, M J Padgett, S Hanna and M J Miles
Dielectric microrods can be trapped horizontally in pairs of holographically controlled optical traps. External forces acting on these microrods are registered via the rotational and translational displacement of the microrod relative to the traps. In the following paper we demonstrate accurate, real-time tracking of this displacement in two dimensions. The precision of the method is estimated and the translational and rotational stiffness coefficients of the trapped microrod are evaluated by analysing the thermal motion and the Stokes drag. The variation of these stiffness coefficients relative to the displacement of the traps from the ends of the microrods is measured, and optimal trapping conditions are located.

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