Optical formation and manipulation of particle and cell patterns using a tapered optical fiber

Abstract A method for optical formation and controllable manipulation of particle and cell patterns using a tapered optical fiber is demonstrated. With a laser beam at 980‐nm wavelength launched into the fiber, different sized silica particles were formed into particle patterns (both one‐dimensional chains and two‐dimensional arrays) with different particle numbers by optical binding. The formed particle patterns can be controllably manipulated in three dimensions. Using yeast cells as an example, it was demonstrated that the method is applicable for the formation of biological cell patterns, without damage to the yeast cell viability. This method provides a new facile way for biophotonic and biological researches with particles and cells in a highly organized manner.