Open AccessColloidal lithography double-nanohole optical trapping of nanoparticles and proteins
Author(s) -
Adarsh Lalitha Ravindranath,
Mirali Seyed Shariatdoust,
Samuel Mathew,
Reuven Gordon
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.27.016184
Subject(s) - materials science , nanolithography , optical tweezers , lithography , etching (microfabrication) , optics , scanning electron microscope , sputtering , microscopy , nanoparticle , colloidal gold , nanotechnology , optical microscope , optoelectronics , thin film , fabrication , medicine , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , layer (electronics) , composite material
Double-nanoholes fabricated by colloidal lithography were used for trapping single colloidal particles and single proteins. A gap separation of 60 nm between the cusps of the double-nanohole was achieved in a gold film of 70 nm thickness sputter coated onglass. The cusp separation was reduced steadily down to 10 nm by plasma etching the colloidal particles prior to sputter coating. Scanning electron microscopy was used to locate a particular double-nanohole and it was registered for later microscopy experiments. 30 nm polystyrene particles, the rubisco protein and bovine serum albumin were trapped using a laser focused through the aperture. Compared to other methods that require top-down nanofabrication, this approach is inexpensive and produces high-quality samples.