Open Source DIY Optical Tweezers

Developed by Dr. Ali Azadbakht at Wfront Principle.

3D-printed OpenFlexure microscope into DIY optical tweezers using a low-power red laser and an extra lense. In this video we walk you through the full build, alignment, and how to trap tiny beads.
You’ll see:
How optical tweezers work in simple terms


How I couple a laser into the OpenFlexure port


Which lenses/objective I use and why


Live trapping of ~4 µm beads in water


🔗 Links & resources
OpenFlexure microscope project: https://openflexure.org/projects/microscope/
The Github page: https://github.com/aliazadbakht/OpenFlexure_OpticalTweezers
Arthur Ashkin’s Nobel lecture in Aspen (highly recommended science story!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb58pd2ycKQ

⚠️ Laser safety
keep powers low, and never look into the beam.

Credits: Wfront Principles B.V., Comet Lab, Mojtaba Nosratlo,

Wfront Principle is a pre-incubator for scientific startups based at CometLab, Noordwijk, NL.