Experimental measurement and analysis of the optical trapping force acting on a yeast cell with a lensed optical fiber probe

Based on an optical trapping system with a single-lensed fiber probe inserted at an angle, the sub-picoNewton trapping force acting on a yeast cell as a function of the displacement is measured experimentally by the static and dynamic methods, respectively, whose measurement processes are presented in detail. The measured maximum trapping efficiency is 0.07 in our experiment, which is an order of magnitude lower than that of the optical tweezers. The characteristics of the trapping force in the various horizontal directions are discussed. Finally, the analysis of the measurement error shows the factors and their magnitude which cause error, and offers a way to reduce the error in future.