Ryohei Omine (M2), Department of Precision Engineering, received Young Scientist Presentation Award at the 85th JSAP Autumn Meeting 2024

Ryohei Omine (M2), Takahashi-Michihata Laboratory, Department of Precision Engineering, received Young Scientist Presentation Award at the 85th JSAP (Japan Society of Applied Physics) Autumn Meeting 2024 held on March 14-17, 2025.

About awarded research
● Development of contour-tracking optical tweezers towards stable trapping and manipulation of sub-mm scale, irregular-shape particles
○ Ryohei Omine, Shuzo Masui, Masaki Michihata, Satoru Takahashi
Proc. of the 85th JSAP Autumn Meeting, 17p-A32-10, Niigata, Sep. 16-20, 2024.

Summary: Optical tweezers technique, which traps micro-scale objects by transferring momentum of light to them, is a promising tool for micro-scale manipulation. However, stable trapping of large (sub-mm scale) and irregularly shaped particles is difficult for previous methods with optical tweezers. In this study, we propose a concept of what we call Contour-Tracking Optical Tweezers (CTOTs). CTOTs realize stable trapping of such objects by conducting extraction of their contours from microscope images with image processing and generation of illumination patterns with superposition of focused beams along the extracted contour. In the presentation, we presented details of proof-of-concept experiments and elucidation of principles with simulations.

In addition, the awards ceremony and an invited talk (below) were held at the 72nd JSAP Spring Meeting.
● Analyses of applied forces with ray tracing simulation on contour-tracking optical tweezers toward manipulation of particles of diverse size and shape
○ Ryohei Omine, Shuzo Masui, Masaki Michihata, Satoru Takahashi
Proc. of the 72nd JSAP Spring Meeting, 15a-K305-1, Chiba, Mar. 14-17, 2025.

Your impression & future plan
I am very honored to receive such a prestigious award. I will make my best efforts for further development of micro-scale manipulation technologies with optical tweezers.