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Applied physics

An optical trampoline

Nature volume 492, pages 51–52 (2012)Cite this article

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A neat study shows that a sheet of laser light can be used to reflect light-absorbing liquid droplets and manipulate their trajectories. This observation may open up new ways of controlling and studying aerosols.

We think of light as an ephemeral thing with no substance. We appreciate its warming effect when we step outside on a sunny day, but the idea that light can have a mechanical effect, producing forces, seems counter-intuitive. It seems plausible that a small droplet can bounce off a pool of water, unable to break the surface tension. But can we say the same of a droplet hitting a sheet of light? Writing in Applied Physics Letters, Esseling and colleagues1 describe such a phenomenon: an optical 'trampoline'.

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Figure 1: Bouncing droplets.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. David McGloin is at the Division of Physics, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 4HN, UK.,

    David McGloin

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  1. David McGloin
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Correspondence to David McGloin.

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McGloin, D. An optical trampoline. Nature 492, 51–52 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/492051a

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/492051a

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