Abstract:
Here we functionalized micro-scaled polymer beads with nano-scaled quantum dots and demonstrate
optical trapping and tweezing, with in-situ fluorescence measurement, in an all-digital all-optical
configuration. We outline the chemistry required to facilitate this, from deactivating the optical
trapping environment to size, adhesion and agglomeration control. We introduce a novel holographic
optical trapping set-up that leverages on vectorially structured light, allowing for the delivery of
tuneable forms of light from purely scalar to purely vector, including propagation invariant flat-top
beams for uniform illumination and tailored intensity gradient landscapes. Finally, we show how this
has the potential to quench bleaching in a single wavelength trap by linear (spatial mode) rather than
non-linear effects, advancing the nascent field of optics for chemistry.
