Monolithic integration of optical traps and microfluidic channels

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The key motivation for the project is to make the optical trapping toolkit more accessible to the life sciences community. By integrating optical traps directly into microfluidic circuitry, we will add functionality to Lab-on-a-chip type devices, thus taking them a step closer to real applications. We will reach this aim by developing the concept of an integrated optical trap that we have demonstrated recently. The trap will be made more versatile by increasing its power output and by using beamshaping to increase the intensity in the optical trap, thus being able to control a large number of different cell types. An optical chromatography device that offers the fast and simple fractionation of a cell population will be developed, with integrated separation channels that are optically addressed. Realising circuits at other wavelengths, namely 780 nm for Raman spectroscopy and 635 as well as 410 nm for fluorescence excitation, will highlight the potential of the integrated trap concept further.