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Updated: Jun 30, 2026

Optical Trap Loading of Dielectric Microparticles In Air
Published on: February 5, 2017
Ultrasensitive absorption spectroscopy of optically-trapped aerosol droplets
Abstract:
High-sensitivity optical absorption measurements on individual sub-picoliter aqueous droplets are reported using aerosol optical tweezers to simultaneously manipulate and characterize a sample droplet and a control droplet for comparison. It is demonstrated that the detection sensitivity to trace analytes is set by the weak absorption by the solvent, water, and that absorbances less than 5 x 10(-7) can be measured over pathlengths of less than 10 microm. The potential applications of this approach to analyze aerosol particle composition and to perform trace analysis are discussed.
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