AOT-100 AEROSOL OPTICAL TWEEZER0 pages

AOT-100 Aerosol Optical Tweezer
A major advance in the study of airborne particles

AOT-100 OVERVIEW
The AOT-100 allows users to hold airborne particles for extended periods with ease. Holding particles in an
optical trap enables many different parameters to be studied continuously over times varying from milliseconds to
hours.
The AOT-100 is the result of a collaboration between the Bristol University Aerosol Research Centre and Biral.

Prior to the AOT-100 aerosol instruments have mostly relied on transits through an illuminated measuring space
that last of the order of microseconds. While this has enabled measurements to be made on very large numbers
of particles it severely limits what can be measured and precludes the study of any time-dependent processes.
By trapping particles in the focus of a laser beam the dynamic processes that are vital to the understanding the
relationship between particles and the medium in which they are suspended become feasible. Aerosols play a
vital role in many processes and studying their evolution with time is vital to developing a detailed understanding
of fields as diverse as climate change and drug delivery to the lungs.

BRISTOL INDUSTRIAL AND RESEARCH ASSOCIATES LIMITED
Telephone : +44 (0)1275 847787 Facsimile : +44(0)1275 847303
E-mail: info@biral.com
Home Page at http://www.biral.com