TY - JOUR
T1 - Significant improvement of optical traps by tuning standard water immersion objectives
AU - Seyyed Reihani, Seyyed Nader
AU - Richardson, Andrew Callum
AU - Oddershede, Lene Broeng
PY - 2011/10/1
Y1 - 2011/10/1
N2 - Focused infrared lasers are widely used for micromanipulation and visualization of biological specimens. An inherent practical problem is that off-the-shelf commercial microscope objectives are designed for use with visible and not infrared wavelengths. Less aberration is introduced by water immersion objectives than by oil immersion ones, however, even water immersion objectives induce significant aberration. We present a simple method to reduce the spherical aberration induced by water immersion objectives, namely by tuning the correction collar of the objective to a value that is ∼ 10% lower than the physical thickness of the coverslip. This results in marked improvements in optical trapping strengths of up to 100% laterally and 600% axially from a standard microscope objective designed for use in the visible range. The results are generally valid for any water immersion objective with any numerical aperture.
AB - Focused infrared lasers are widely used for micromanipulation and visualization of biological specimens. An inherent practical problem is that off-the-shelf commercial microscope objectives are designed for use with visible and not infrared wavelengths. Less aberration is introduced by water immersion objectives than by oil immersion ones, however, even water immersion objectives induce significant aberration. We present a simple method to reduce the spherical aberration induced by water immersion objectives, namely by tuning the correction collar of the objective to a value that is ∼ 10% lower than the physical thickness of the coverslip. This results in marked improvements in optical trapping strengths of up to 100% laterally and 600% axially from a standard microscope objective designed for use in the visible range. The results are generally valid for any water immersion objective with any numerical aperture.
U2 - 10.1088/2040-8978/13/10/105301
DO - 10.1088/2040-8978/13/10/105301
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0972-8821
VL - 13
SP - 105301
JO - Journal of Optics (India)
JF - Journal of Optics (India)
IS - 10
ER -