Micromachined optical trap for use as a microcytology workstation

A micromachined optical ''trap'' to capture and move micron sized dielectric particles is presented. The trap consists of four single mode optical fibers mutually aligned to have a common optical beam intersection at the center of a micromachined housing. The intersection of the beams forms an optical ''cross-hair'' which captures dielectric microparticles with a strong optical gradient force field, and holds them for further manipulation, visualization, and/or analysis. The stability and magnitude of the trapping force fields are comparable to the single beam ''optical tweezers'' technique, but are considerably more versatile.