Optical trapping reveals differences in dielectric and optical properties of copper nanoparticles compared to their oxides and ferrites.

In a nanoplasmonic context, copper (Cu) is a potential and interesting surrogate to less accessible metals such as gold, silver or platinum. We demonstrate optical trapping of individual Cu nanoparticles with diameters between 25 and 70 nm and of two ionic Cu nanoparticle species, CuFe2O4 and CuZnFe2O4, with diameters of 90 nm using a near infrared laser and quantify their interaction with the electromagnetic field experimentally and theoretically. We find that, despite the similarity in size, the trapping stiffness and polarizability of the ferrites are significantly lower than those of Cu nanoparticles, thus inferring a different light-particle interaction. One challenge with using Cu nanoparticles in practice is that upon exposure to the normal atmosphere, Cu is spontaneously passivated by an oxide layer, thus altering its physicochemical properties. We theoretically investigate how the presence of an oxide layer influences the optical properties of Cu nanoparticles. Comparisons to experimental observations infer that oxidation of CuNPs is minimal during optical trapping. By finite element modelling we map out the expected temperature increase of the plasmonic Cu nanoparticles during optical trapping and retrieve temperature increases high enough to change the catalytic properties of the particles.

Plasmonic Heating of Nanostructures.

The absorption of light by plasmonic nanostructures and their associated temperature increase are exquisitely sensitive to the shape and composition of the structure and to the wavelength of light. Therefore, much effort is put into synthesizing novel nanostructures for optimized interaction with the incident light. The successful synthesis and characterization of high quality and biocompatible plasmonic colloidal nanoparticles has fostered numerous and expanding applications, especially in biomedical contexts, where such particles are highly promising for general drug delivery and for tomorrow's cancer treatment. We review the thermoplasmonic properties of the most commonly used plasmonic nanoparticles, including solid or composite metallic nanoparticles of various dimensions and geometries. Common methods for synthesizing plasmonic particles are presented with the overall goal of providing the reader with a guide for designing or choosing nanostructures with optimal thermoplasmonic properties for a given application. Finally, the biocompatibility and biological tolerance of structures are critically discussed along with novel applications of plasmonic nanoparticles in the life sciences.

Gold Nanostars Coated with Mesoporous Silica Are Effective and Nontoxic Photothermal Agents Capable of Gate Keeping and Laser-Induced Drug Release.

Herein, a novel drug photorelease system based on gold nanostars (AuNSts), coated with a mesoporous silica shell and capped with paraffin as thermosensitive molecular gate, is reported. Direct measurements of the surface temperature of a single gold nanostar irradiated using a tightly focused laser beam are performed via a heat-sensitive biological matrix. The surface temperature of a AuNSt increases by hundreds of degrees (°C) even at low laser powers. AuNSts coated with a mesoporous silica shell using a surfactant-templated synthesis are used as chemotherapeutic nanocarriers. Synthetic parameters are optimized to avoid AuNSt reshaping, and thus to obtain nanoparticles with suitable and stable plasmonic properties for near-infrared (NIR) laser-triggered cargo delivery. The mesoporous silica-coated nanostars are loaded with doxorubicin (Dox) and coated with octadecyltrimethoxysilane and the paraffin heneicosane. The paraffin molecules formed a hydrophobic layer that blocks the pores, impeding the release of the cargo. This hybrid nanosystem exhibits a well-defined photodelivery profile using NIR radiation, even at low power density, whereas the nonirradiated sample shows a negligible payload release. Dox-loaded nanoparticles displayed no cytotoxicity toward HeLa cells, until they are irradiated with 808 nm laser, provoking paraffin melting and drug release. Hence, these novel, functional, and biocompatible nanoparticles display adequate plasmonic properties for NIR-triggered drug photorelease applications.

Platinum nanoparticles: a non-toxic, effective and thermally stable alternative plasmonic material for cancer therapy and bioengineering.

Absorption of near infrared (NIR) light by metallic nanoparticles can cause extreme heating and is of interest for instance in cancer treatment since NIR light has a relatively large penetration depth into biological tissue. Here, we quantify the extraordinary thermoplasmonic properties of platinum nanoparticles and demonstrate their efficiency in photothermal cancer therapy. Although platinum nanoparticles are extensively used for catalysis, they are much overlooked in a biological context. Via direct measurements based on a biological matrix we show that individual irradiated platinum nanoparticles with diameters of 50-70 nm can easily reach surface temperatures up to 900 K. In contrast to gold nanoshells, which are often used for photothermal purposes, we demonstrate that the platinum particles remain stable at these extreme temperatures. The experiments are paralleled by finite element modeling confirming the experimental results and establishing a theoretical understanding of the particles' thermoplasmonic properties. At extreme temperatures it is likely that a vapor layer will form around the plasmonic particle, and we show this scenario to be consistent with direct measurements and simulations. Viability studies demonstrate that platinum nanoparticles themselves are non-toxic at therapeutically relevant concentrations, however, upon laser irradiation we show that they efficiently kill human cancer cells. Therefore, platinum nanoparticles are highly promising candidates for thermoplasmonic applications in the life sciences, in nano-medicine, and for bio-medical engineering.

Optical manipulation of individual strongly absorbing platinum nanoparticles.

Nanostructures with exceptional absorption in the near infrared (NIR) regime are receiving significant attention due to their ability to promote controlled local heating in biological material upon irradiation. Also, such nano-structures have numerous applications in nano-electronics and for bio-exploration. Therefore, significant effort is being put into controlling and understanding plasmonic nanostructures. However, essentially all focus has been on NIR resonant gold nanoparticles and remarkably little attention has been given to nanoparticles of other materials that may have superior properties. Here, we demonstrate optical control and manipulation of individual strongly absorbing platinum nanoparticles in three dimensions using a single focused continuous wave NIR laser beam. Also, we quantify how the platinum nanoparticles interact with light and compare to similarly sized absorbing gold nanoparticles, both massive gold and gold nanoshells. By finite element modeling, we find the scattering and absorption cross sections and the polarizability of all particles. The trapping experiments allow for direct measurements of the interaction between the nanoparticles and NIR light which compares well to the theoretical predictions. In the NIR, platinum nanoparticles are stronger absorbers than similarly sized massive gold nanoparticles and scatter similarly. Compared to NIR resonant gold nanoshells, platinum nanoparticles absorb less, however, they also scatter significantly less, thus leading to more stable optical trapping. These results pave the way for nano-manipulation and positioning of platinum nanoparticles and for using these for to enhance spectroscopic signals, for localized heating, and for manipulation of biological systems.

Guiding and nonlinear coupling of light in plasmonic nanosuspensions.

We demonstrate two different types of coupled beam propagation dynamics in colloidal gold nanosuspensions. In the first case, an infrared (IR) probe beam (1064 nm) is guided by a low-power visible beam (532 nm) in a gold nanosphere or in nanorod suspensions due to the formation of a plasmonic resonant soliton. Although the IR beam does not experience nonlinear self-action effects, even at high power levels, needle-like deep penetration of both beams through otherwise highly dissipative suspensions is realized. In the second case, a master/slave-type nonlinear coupling is observed in gold nanoshell suspensions, in which the nanoparticles have opposite polarizabilities at the visible and IR wavelengths. In this latter regime, both beams experience a self-focusing nonlinearity that can be fine-tuned.

Scattering detection of a solenoidal Poynting vector field.

The Poynting vector S plays a central role in electrodynamics as it is directly related to the power and the momentum carried by an electromagnetic wave. In the presence of multiple electromagnetic waves with different polarizations and propagation directions, the Poynting vector may exhibit solenoidal components which are not associated to any power flow. Here, we demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that the presence of such solenoidal components has physical consequences, and it is not a mere artifact of the gauge invariance of S. In particular, we identify a simple field configuration displaying solenoidal components of S and theoretically show that a judiciously designed scatterer can act as a "Poynting vector detector" which when immersed in such field distribution would experience a transverse optical force orthogonal to the incidence plane. We experimentally validate our theoretical predictions by observing a pronounced asymmetry in the scattering pattern of a spherical nanoparticle.

Evaluating the toxic effect of an antimicrobial agent on single bacterial cells with optical tweezers.

We implement an optical tweezers technique to assess the effects of chemical agents on single bacterial cells. As a proof of principle, the viability of a trapped Escherichia coli bacterium is determined by monitoring its flagellar motility in the presence of varying concentrations of ethyl alcohol. We show that the "killing time" of the bacterium can be effectively identified from the correlation statistics of the positional time series recorded from the trap, while direct quantification from the time series or associated power spectra is intractable. Our results, which minimize the lethal effects of bacterial photodamage, are consistent with previous reports of ethanol toxicity that used conventional culture-based methods. This approach can be adapted to study other pairwise combinations of drugs and motile bacteria, especially to measure the response times of single cells with better precision.

Polarization-induced stiffness asymmetry of optical tweezers.

A tightly focused, linearly polarized laser beam, so-called optical tweezers, is proven to be a useful micromanipulation tool. It is known that there is a stiffness asymmetry in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis inherited from the polarization state of the laser. In this Letter, we report our experimental results of stiffness asymmetry for different bead sizes measured at the optimal trapping condition. We also provide the results of our generalized Lorenz-Mie based calculations, which are in good agreement with our experimental results. We also compare our results with previous reports.

Circulating phospholipase-A2 activity in obstructive sleep apnea and recurrent tonsillitis.

OBJECTIVE: Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) plays a major part in growth regulation, differentiation and inflammation. It has been proposed as an evaluating marker for infection and inflammation. The aim of this study was to investigate activity of serum type II secretory PLA2 (sPLA2 IIa) in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and recurrent infective tonsillitis (RT) in children. METHODS: Activity of serum sPLA2 IIa was determined in children who underwent tonsillectomy, including OSA in 126 cases and RT in 60. Serum enzyme activities were measured using the standard assay with Diheptanoyl Thio-Phosphatidylcholin as substrate. RESULTS: The sPLA2 IIa activity of serum was significantly higher in RT than in OSA (P<0.01). Serum sPLA2 IIa activity in the RT patients was positively correlated with BMI (r=0.26; P=0.02), which was not apparent in OSA (r=0.14; P=0.09). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that serum sPLA2 IIa activity may be considered as a supportive diagnostic marker in suspected or clinically unclear cases of RT children.

Role of condenser iris in optical tweezer detection system.

Optical tweezers have proven to be very useful in various scientific fields, from biology to nanotechnology. In this Letter we show, both by theory and experiment, that the interference intensity pattern at the back focal plane of the condenser consists of two distinguishable areas with anticorrelated intensity changes when the bead is moved in the axial direction. We show that the space angle defining the border of two areas linearly depends on the NA of the objective. We also propose a new octant photodiode, which could significantly improve the axial resolution compared to the commonly used quadrant photodiode technique.

Optimal beam diameter for optical tweezers.

An optimized optical trap is a favorable choice for nanoparticle trapping and micromanipulation of biological tissues. The collimation of laser beam before the objective can have significant influence on the trap by controlling the effective NA of the system. We have shown by both theory and experiment that in the aberration-free condition the filling factor of WD approximately 0.67 provides the strongest trap in the lateral directions for a micrometer-size bead. In this condition improvements up to approximately 117%( approximately 168%), compared with the previously suggested ratio of W/D approximately 1(W/D approximately 1.25), were achieved in the lateral direction.