Optical trapping of multiple particles in three dimensions in a single inverted optical tweezers is investigated. The effect of trapping pairs of beads on the voltage signal recorded by a quadrant photo diode detector is examined, with particular emphasise on its power spectral density. It is found that trapped pairs of beads could be mistaken for single beads in a trap of half the strength. Stokes drag measurements reveal that both beads of the pair are confined less than a single particle in the same trap and that the quadrant signal provides some information of their mean displacements.

doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2007.09.032