Scientists Alexander Ohlinger, Andras Deak, Andrey A. Lutich*, and Jochen Feldmann, reported on 9 January 2012 that they have "a new application of optical tweezers for ultrasensitive detection of sound waves in liquid media." They call this application a nanoear.
They positioned a single gold nanoparticle in a three-dimensional optical trap. That permitted them to readout acoustic vibrations at a sound power level down to -60 dB. These vibrations caused an increase in kinetic energy of the nanoparticle.
They achieved unprecedented sensitivity by processing the frequency of the motion of the nanoparticle in the tweezers.
They say that this concept will enable listening to the interior of biological microorganisms such as viruses and to micromechanical machines not accessible by other microscopy types.
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They positioned a single gold nanoparticle in a three-dimensional optical trap. That permitted them to readout acoustic vibrations at a sound power level down to -60 dB. These vibrations caused an increase in kinetic energy of the nanoparticle.
They achieved unprecedented sensitivity by processing the frequency of the motion of the nanoparticle in the tweezers.
They say that this concept will enable listening to the interior of biological microorganisms such as viruses and to micromechanical machines not accessible by other microscopy types.
Read More
