Double Trap Optical Tweezers for Single Molecule Experiments

Md. Arsalan Ashraf

Mechanical measurements on single bio-molecules are important for microscopic understanding of the force generation mechanism in living cells. Precision force measuring techniques like AFM or Optical Tweezers is used for probing single molecules. Optical tweezers are particularly interesting because it provides contactless manipulation of micron size dielectric particles and allow to measure sub pico-newton forces. We have developed a novel double trap optical tweezers, with which we can quantitatively probe the mechanics of biopolymers for long time with high precision. We will discuss the need for developing a novel double trap system, the design details, pros and cons of our design, and the possibilities it opens up for new kind of experiments.