Optimized ultrafast laser cell poration

Improvement of methods to modify and control the genetic expression of cells in terms of efficiency, cell survival, and throughput benefits widely to biology and medicine. Within the field of ultrafast laser induced transfection, we investigated two approaches: One is based on a plasmonic substrate that induces the local and transient poration of cell membrane for a gentle and high-throughput transfection by a purely optically induced ultrafast process. The second approach investigates the effect of temporal envelope modification of femtosecond laser pulse producing temporal Airy pulses for a direct and optimized laser-cell interaction. These pulses are effective for reducing the energy and peak intensity thresholds required for cell poration with single pulse in the nJ range as well as controlling the morphology of the induced pores, with prospective applications from cellular to tissue opto-surgery and transfection