3D printed fiber-optic nanomechanical bioprobe

Abstract

Highlights Some highlights of this manuscript are listed as follow: A miniature fiber optical nanomechanical probe (FONP) can be used to detect the mechanical properties of single cells and in vivo tissue measurements is demonstrated. The FONP is developed by programming a microcantilever probe on the end face of a single-mode fiber using femtosecond laser 3D printing. A strategy of customizing the microcantilever’s spring constant according to the sample based on structure-correlated mechanics is proposed and the stiffness of FONP is adjustable. The FONPs can operate in air/liquids and show ultra-high force resolution, whose highest microforce sensitivity and detection limit are 54.5 nm μN−1, 2.1 nN respectively. The FONPs provide a universal protocol for directly programming fiber-optic AFMs and make substantial progress in realizing basic biological discoveries