2018

Optical tweezers and their applications.

Optical tweezers, tools based on strongly focused light, enable optical trapping, manipulation, and characterisation of a wide range of microscopic and nanoscopic materials.

For non-spherical particles or at intermediate (meso)scales, the comprehension of the interaction between light and matter is very complicated and the shape and composition can have dramatic consequences for optically trapped particle dynamics.

Here, after an introduction to the full scattering theory and practice of optical forces with a focus on the role of shape and composition, we give an overview of some recent applications to biology, nanotechnology, spectroscopy, stochastic thermodynamics, critical Casimir forces, and active matter.

Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer 218 (2018) 131–150