Three-dimensional light fields for neurophotonics and micromanipulation
Abstract
We describe a multi-functional system that projects three-dimensional (3D) light fields for experiments in neurophotonics and for multi-beam optical tweezers. Here, we use a single laser to project 3D light fields via holographic projection. When the laser is operated in femtosecond pulse mode, we show that the projected 3D light patterns have sufficient spatiotemporal photon density for multi-site two-photon excitation of biological fluorescent markers. We show that these light patterns can be used for photolysis of caged neurotransmitters for analyzing the functionality and connectivity of neuronal networks. When the same laser operates in continuous-wave mode, we can use the system for multi-beam optical tweezers to manipulate an array of particles simultaneously.