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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

Direct Force Measurements of Subcellular Mechanics in Confinement using Optical Tweezers
Published on: August 31, 2021
Optical transduction of chemical forces
Nathan H Mack1, Jay Wm Wackerly, Viktor Malyarchuk
1Department of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA.
Abstract:
We describe a plasmonic crystal device possessing utility for optically transducing chemical forces. The device couples complex plasmonic fields to chemical changes via a chemoresponsive, surface-bound hydrogel. We find that this architecture significantly enhances the spectroscopic responses seen at visible wavelengths while enabling capacities for sensitive signal transduction, even in cases that involve essentially no change in refractive index, thus allowing analytical detection via colorimetric assays in both imaging and spectroscopic modes.
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