Masters Thesis

Optical trapping: force measurement and the investigation of bacterial physiology

This thesis is concerned with the optical trapping and analysis of biological specimens. The change in momentum of light due to the interaction between light and matter generates force. Optical trapping permits the manipulation of microscopic objects, detection of nanometer displacements, and piconewton forces without any mechanical contact. There are multiple methods to analyze the optical forces exerted on the specimens. Preferable methods are calculating forces through viscous drag force and power spectral density. Trap parameters in the detection of bacterial motility are intractable. Hence, the analysis of the autocorrelation function for the bacterial motion has been purposed and has successfully shown a similar result in bacterial ethanol toxicity in the presence of alcohol. The optical trap is a tightly focused beam and induces damage to the specimen. More significantly, photoninduced damage by optical trapping is dependent on bacterial growth conditions. This thesis strives to use to optical trapping to analyze bacterial damage in a single cell experiment.

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