This document summarizes a low-cost 2D stage system designed for use with an inverted microscope. The stage uses a piezo stage with 0.06nm resolution for precise X-Y positioning. Linear actuators provide 100nm resolution over 28mm of travel in the X and Y dimensions. The total cost of the stage was around $2300, without the piezo stage. A joystick and LabVIEW software were used to control the stage and allow efficient scanning of large sample areas under the microscope. The stage was designed to support experiments using optical tweezers to manipulate and study DNA samples.

1. 2D Stage for Inverted Microscope (Economy)
Introducing a 2D (X-Y)
Joystick controlled stage I
designed and built for
Optical Tweezers, but
could be used with any
inverted microscope. This
was a low budget stage
system composed of parts
from different vendors.
The X-Y linear stage had
100nm and X-Piezo stage
had .06nm resolution. The
stage cost around $2300
(without piezo).
Youtube: https://youtu.be/3hyVFVzXgvY

2. Stage Assembly
• Sample slide holder
• X-Piezo stage: MAD CITY LABS:-
Nano OP-30, 30µm travel
.06nm resolution
• Miniature Linear Actuators:
ZABER:- T-LA28A, 28mm travel
100nm resolution
• X-Y linear stage: NEWPORT:-
460A-XY, 20mm travel
• 2D Platform: THORLABS, 1.5
inches displacement

3. Stage Components
Sample holder stage designed by me
Piezo stage Adapter
Piezo stage was mounted on the platform
with an adapter
This was used to hold a slide
right above the objective.
The holder was attached to the piezo stage
with 4 rubber pads in between. The pads
were used to control Tip-Tilt.
X-Piezo Stage

4. X-Y stage can be prepared from
a single 2D stage or two 1D
stages by replacing the
micrometers with actuators.
X-Y stage Two linear stages
Stage Components
The stage was mounted on X-
Y platform, where two plates
were installed for rough
adjustment in X-Y to align the
slide center with objective
optical axis. A sturdy and high
enough platform was a
requirement of the setup
(Olympus IX71 Microscope).

5. Setup
2D Stage
Microscope
Objective
Objective Z-
Piezo

6. Control Software GUI
I used LabVIEW to write the software to control the stages with a Logitech Attack 3 Joystick.
Zaber provides a good library of the drivers. The DNA samples I was using had at least 10K
tethers distributed over 15X15mm slide. For experiments I had to find the right tethers
among all by scanning the sample under the microscope. It was not a very easy task but this
stage and the software made it easy.

7. Optical Tweezers designed and built by Pranav Rathi (PhD)
This was my PhD project: Optical Tweezers for Shotgun DNA mapping (sequencing) and DNA
overstretching in water isotopes.