Arkin
Optical Tweezers Microscope
Arthur Ashkin published the science of optical tweezers openly, work that earned him the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. Yet commercial instruments remain expensive, restricting access to well-funded laboratories. Arkin honours this legacy by developing a fully open-source optical trapping microscope using globally available components. The design includes 3D-printable optomechanical modules, a precision translation stage, and a control software, integrating with established open-hardware platforms (OpenUC2 and OpenFlexure). Beyond optical trapping, a key deliverable is a precision positioning stage for laser alignment, imaging, and micromanipulation—filling a gap in the open-hardware ecosystem and bringing advanced biophysical tools to educational institutions, citizen-scientists, and researchers worldwide.
- The project's own website: https://www.wfront.nl/
Run by Wavefront
This project was funded through the NGI0 Commons Fund, a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission's Next Generation Internet programme, under the aegis of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No 101135429. Additional funding is made available by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
