Dynamic patterning of microparticles via surface plasmon excitation

Optical manipulation based on surface plasmon excitation has recently attracted significant interest for its low energy consumption and simple installation. Surface plasmon field is excited with Kretschmann prism coupling scheme and effective trapping of 10.8 μm diameter polystyrene beads is realized. By modulating the incident laser pattern with a micro-aperture array, microparticles are massively dynamic patterned on a homogeneous gold thin film. A 20 mW He-Ne laser is used in the experiment as the light source. The applied power intensity is tens of times weaker than that of laser tweezers. Owing to its advantages such as low cost, flexible manipulation ability and low power consumption, the trapping method can be used to the manipulation of living cells and DNAs in medical treatments.