Physics News

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new type of optical particle trap can be used to manipulate bacteria, viruses and other particles on a chip as part of an integrated optofluidic platform. The optical trap is the latest innovation from researchers at the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz, who are developing new sensor technology for biomedical analysis and other applications.

"The capabilities of our optofluidic platform are continuing to grow. We have gone from the detection of single molecules and single viruses to now being able to control the movement of particles," he said.
"We can also use this like an optical leaf blower to push all the particles in a sample to the same spot and increase the concentration," Schmidt said. "The goal is to control the position and movement of particles through channels on a chip so they can be studied using fluorescence analysis and other optical methods."