481 research outputs found
Orientation of optically trapped nonspherical birefringent particles
While the alignment and rotation of microparticles in optical traps have
received increased attention recently, one of the earliest examples has been
almost totally neglected the alignment of particles relative to the beam axis,
as opposed to about the beam axis. However, since the alignment torques
determine how particles align in a trap, they are directly relevant to
practical applications. Lysozyme crystals are an ideal model system to study
factors determining the orientation of nonspherical birefringent particles in a
trap. Both their size and their aspect ratio can be controlled by the growth
parameters, and their regular shape makes computational modeling feasible. We
show that both external shape and internal birefringence anisotropy contribute
to the alignment torque. Three-dimensionally trapped elongated objects either
align with their long axis parallel or perpendicular to the beam axis depending
on their size. The shape-dependent torque can exceed the torque due to
birefringence, and can align negative uniaxial particles with their optic axis
parallel to the electric field, allowing an application of optical torque about
the beam axis.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Collecting single molecules with conventional optical tweezers
The size of particles which can be trapped in optical tweezers ranges from
tens of nanometres to tens of micrometres. This size regime also includes large
single molecules. Here we present experiments demonstrating that optical
tweezers can be used to collect polyethylene oxide (PEO) molecules suspended in
water. The molecules that accumulate in the focal volume do not aggregate and
therefore represent a region of increased molecule concentration, which can be
controlled by the trapping potential. We also present a model which relates the
change in concentration to the trapping potential. Since many protein molecules
have molecular weights for which this method is applicable the effect may be
useful in assisting nucleation of protein crystals.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
A verified equivalent-circuit model for slotwaveguide modulators
We formulate and experimentally validate an equivalent-circuit model based on
distributed elements to describe the electric and electro-optic (EO) properties
of travellingwave silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) slot-waveguide modulators. The
model allows to reliably predict the small-signal EO frequency response of the
modulators exploiting purely electrical measurements of the frequency-dependent
RF transmission characteristics. We experimentally verify the validity of our
model, and we formulate design guidelines for an optimum trade-off between
optical loss due to free-carrier absorption (FCA), electro-optic bandwidth, and
{\pi}-voltage of SOH slot-waveguide modulators
Focusing a deterministic single-ion beam
We focus down an ion beam consisting of single 40Ca+ ions to a spot size of a
few mum using an einzel-lens. Starting from a segmented linear Paul trap, we
have implemented a procedure which allows us to deterministically load a
predetermined number of ions by using the potential shaping capabilities of our
segmented ion trap. For single-ion loading, an efficiency of 96.7(7)% has been
achieved. These ions are then deterministically extracted out of the trap and
focused down to a 1sigma-spot radius of (4.6 \pm 1.3)mum at a distance of 257mm
from the trap center. Compared to former measurements without ion optics, the
einzel-lens is focusing down the single-ion beam by a factor of 12. Due to the
small beam divergence and narrow velocity distribution of our ion source,
chromatic and spherical aberration at the einzel-lens is vastly reduced,
presenting a promising starting point for focusing single ions on their way to
a substrate.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Growth of crystals in optical tweezers
We report here on the use of optical tweezers in the growth and manipulation of protein and inorganic crystals. Sodium chloride and hen egg-white lysozyme crystals were grown in a batch process, and then seeds from the solution were introduced into the optical tweezers. The regular and controllable shape and the known optical birefringence in these structures allowed a detailed study of the orientation effects in the beam due to both polarization and gradient forces. Additionally, we determined that the laser tweezers could be used to suspend a crystal for three-dimensional growth under varying conditions. Studies included increasing the protein concentration, thermal cycling, and a diffusion-induced increase in precipitant concentration. Preliminary studies on the use of the tweezers to create a localized seed for growth from polyethylene oxide solutions are also reported
Species-specific evolution of immune receptor tyrosine based activation motif-containing CEACAM1-related immune receptors in the dog
Background: Although the impact of pathogens on the evolution of the mammalian immune system is still under debate, proteins, which both regulate immune responses and serve as cellular receptors for pathogens should be at the forefront of pathogen-driven host evolution. The CEA ( carcinoembryonic antigen) gene family codes for such proteins and indeed shows tremendous species-specific variation between human and rodents. Since little is known about the CEA gene family in other lineages of placental mammals, we expected to gain new insights into the evolution of the rapidly diverging CEA family by analyzing the CEA family of the dog. Results: Here we describe the complete CEA gene family in the dog. We found that the gene coding for the ITIM-bearing immunoregulatory molecule CEACAM1 gave rise to a recent expansion of the canine CEA gene family by gene duplication, similar to that previously found in humans and mice. However, while the murine and human CEACAMs (carcinoembryonic antigen-related cell adhesion molecules) are predominantly secreted and GPI-anchored, respectively, in the dog, most of the CEACAMs represent ITAM-bearing transmembrane proteins. One of these proteins, CEACAM28, exhibits nearly complete sequence identity with the ligand-binding N domain of CEACAM1, but antagonizing signaling motifs in the cytoplasmic tail. Comparison of nonsynonymous and synonymous substitutions indicates that the CEACAM28 N domain is under the strongest purifying selection of all canine CEACAM1-related CEACAMs. In addition, CEACAM28 shows a similar expression pattern in resting immune cells and tissues as CEACAM1. However, upon activation CEACAM28 mRNA and CEACAM1 mRNA are differentially regulated. Conclusion: Thus, CEACAM1 and CEACAM28 are the first paired immune receptors identified within the CEA gene family, which are expressed on T cells and are most likely involved in the fine-tuning of T cell responses. The direction of gene conversion accompanied by purifying selection and expression in immune cells suggests the possibility that CEACAM28 evolved in response to selective pressure imposed by species-specific pathogens
Towards crystallization using optical tweezers
Recently we have shown that protein crystals could be grown while they were three-dimensionally trapped by optical tweezers. This permitted studies of modifications of single crystals while gradually changing the conditions in the growing solution. Furthermore it allowed the crystals to grow far away from container walls favoring high quality crystal growth. Many protein crystals themselves consist of fairly large molecules, with sizes up to tens of nanometers. Here we present experiments studying the effect of optical trapping potentials on large molecules, with the aim to explore ways to further enhance crystal growth. For this purpose we extended our tweezers setup with a specially developed detection system allowing us to monitor changes in the molecule concentration of a solution. Using polyethylene oxide (PEO) molecule solutions we were able to demonstrate that the trapping potential of an optical trap is sufficient to collect large single molecules. Our results show that the optical trap induces an increase in the molecule concentration in the focal region. As expected only molecules above a certain molecular weight could be manipulated, and the concentration in the focal region depended on the power of the trapping laser. The ability to locally increase the concentration of molecules may be useful in assisting nucleation of crystals. ©2006 COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only
See-through near to eye displays: challenges and solution paths
Many consider see-through near to eye displays the successors to the smartphone and envision a multitude of mixed reality and augmented reality applications. The ideal optical imaging system for a see-through near to eye display combines a large field of view (≥ 100°) with a large pupil (≈ 20 mm) and is both lightweight and unobtrusive.
In our contribution we first give an overview of challenges related to the design of see-through near to eye displays. Starting from the requirements of the human visual system, we then focus on two main performance parameters: field of view and aperture. These two parameters can be combined in a single parameter, the etendue. We show that the etendue of a see-through near to eye display is comparable to the etendue of lithography lenses and full frame camera lenses. To deliver the same etendue with a much lighter and more compact optical system is one of the main challenges of see-through near to eye displays. We discuss two possible solution paths: to increase the etendue close to the eye and to use foveated imaging concepts
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