A Biophotonics Platform Based on Optical Trapping of Photonic Membranes

We present a biophotonics platform based on the optical manipulation of photonic membranes via holograplucal tweezers. We review the fabrication and manipulation protocol which grants full six-degrees-of-freedom control over these membranes. This is despite the membranes having extreme aspect ratios, being 90 tun in thickness and 15 - 20 mu m in side length. The photonic properties of the trapped membranes can be tailored to very specific applications, by structuring, their topology carefully. Our method IILerges the flexibility of photonic design of optical meta-surfaces with the advanced manipulation capability offered by holographic optical tweezers. Here we demonstrate the validity of our approach, discussing the peculiar mechanical properties of trapped photonic membranes. Specifically, we focus on imaging and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy applications.