Mara Prentiss
Manipulation of Matter by Light and by Magnetic Forces

We carry out experiments based on the interaction between a laser field and the dipole moment induced by an atom by the field. An important research area is atom lithography, which uses light to manipulate a neutral atomic beam as it is deposited on a substrate. Other atom optics research includes theoretical and experimental work on focusing and beam-splitting techniques; novel atom cooling and trapping techniques; and use of light forces to self-assemble optical devices. In the area of biology, interests include analysis of DNA unzipping as probed by magnetic tweezers and single molecule measurements, use of ferro-fluids to entrap biological samples and generation and modulation of magnetically induced particle arrays to investigate cell-cell interactions.

Publications:
Danilowitz, C., Greenfield, D. and Prentiss, M. 2005. Dissociation of ligand-receptor complexes using magnetic tweezers. Anal. Chem. 77: 3023-3028.

Danilowitz, C., Kafri, Y., Conroy, R.S., Coljee, V.W., Weeks, J. and Prentiss, M. 2004. Measurement of the phase diagram of DNA unzipping in the temperature-force plane. Phys. Rev. Lett. 93: 78101.

Danilowitz, C., Coljee, V.W., Bouzigues, C., Lubensky, D.K., Nelson, D.R. and Prentiss, M. 2003. DNA unzipped under a constant force exhibits multiple metastable intermediates. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100: 1694-1699.

Liang, M.N., Smith, S.P., Metallo, S.J., Choi, I.S., Prentiss, M. and Whitesides, G.M. 2000. Measuring the forces involved in polyvalent adhesion of uropathogenic Escherichia coli to mannose-presenting surfaces. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 97: 13092-13096.