System for photonic adjustment of nano-scale aggregated structures (SPANAS)

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Stefan Sinzinger
• Subject Area: Microsystems
• Term: from 2003 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5414694

Aggregation of nano-scale structures has become a subject of strong interest because the research will eventually elucidate the fundamental issues on the forces that constitute arrays of particles as well as theories on self-assembly of materials, particularly that of crystalline structures. Equally important is the study of nano-scale colloidal structures for practical applications that describe the mechanisms in photonic crystals, large array systems, switches, micro-fluidic processes and bio-chemical sensing devices. This can, in time, be the future of nano-scale hybrid processing systems and a prelude to photonic computing devices and sensing chips. The actual applications, however, are hampered by the lack of controllability of currently developed structures that are both spatially and temporally inflexible. In this project, we aim to develop techniques for the formation and dynamic control of nano-scale assembly and manipulation of particles. The techniques will be based on patented and recently demonstrated fully dynamic multiple-beam optical tweezers for the real-time and simultaneous manipulation and control of large arrays of particles. In addition angular alignment and rotation of birefringent particles can be enforced by the use of a patented parallel light polarisation encoding method. The work in this project is performed in close collaboration with international partners at the Risoe Research Center, in Denmark, the University of Durham, UK, and Chalmers University in Sweden. The Technical University of Ilmenau is approaching the microoptical integration of efficient components and systems for optical tweezers.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Participating Persons: Professor Dr. Jesper Glückstad; Professor Dr. Dag Hanstorp; Dr. Gordon D. Love