Tailored Surfaces Using Optically Manipulated Colloidal Particles

Optical trapping techniques have been used extensively to manipulate biological objects and micrometer-sized colloids in a wide variety of investigations. We have used an extension of this technique, scanning laser optical trapping, to simultaneously trap multiple colloids in a designed pattern and have locked-in this artificially created structure through photopolymerization of the monomer-containing solvent. This technique can be used as a means of constructing templates for lithography or as a starting point for creation of larger three-dimensional colloidal structures.