Optical Trap Kit
19590-D04-V15; Apr 12, 2012
Page 24
www.thorlabs.com
Part 7.
Software Package
The optical trapping kit comes with the standard software which is included with the electronic and nano
positioning parts, i.e. it includes the APT software package to control the sample positioning stage and
to read out the quadrant detector signal as well as the application software for the DCU camera. The kit
does not include any routines that will analyze the data and calculate force/stiffness values. The ActiveX
based software modules can be used to develop custom applications (e.g. using LabWindows CVI,
Visual C++, Matlab, Visual Basic, HPVEE, any programming software that supports ActiveX). A
procedure of how to approach this data analysis can be found in „Calibration of optical tweezers with
positional detection in the back-focal-plane, Review of Scientific Instruments 77, 103101, 2006‟. The
screen shots on the right hand side show the QPD and Strain Gauge Controller software on top (included
with OTKBFM) and the piezo controller software and CCD camera software at the bottom (included
with OTKB (OTKB/M)
Figure 5.1 (Left) Application Screen (Right) CCD camera application, 1
m Silica beads. The bright spot near the center
of the picture is the trapped bead.
Part 8.
Sample preparation and measurement
For initial testing we recommend 1um or 2um silica beads. The sample solution loaded into the channel
using a microscopy slide with build-in channel (offered via our optical trapping accessories kit) or you
can build a simple channel by placing double sided tape on a standard slide, put liquid in-between and
add a cover glass on the top. Place the slide onto the sample holder and carefully place the slide between
objective and condenser. Make sure to either use immersion oil on the bottom of the slide or to apply it
to the objective before trying to image the sample.
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