Nanotweezers trap tiny objects
Researchers have made the first nano-optical tweezers that can trap and move objects on the nanoscale. Said to offer many advantages over traditional optical tweezers, the new technique could open the way to manipulating fragile biological cells and making structures from nanoscale building blocks (Nature Photonics 2 365).
Traditional optical tweezers, which have been around for decades, are one of the most important modern-day tools in biology, physics and chemistry. They work by trapping micron-scale objects near the focus of a laser beam. The technique allows objects to be picked up and moved to another place using just light.
Although scientists have used optical tweezers to trap nanoscale objects before, this required high laser powers, which can damage or even destroy the object in question. Now, Alexander Grigorenko and colleagues at the...