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  • Review Article
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Optical trapping and manipulation of nanostructures

Abstract

Optical trapping and manipulation of micrometre-sized particles was first reported in 1970. Since then, it has been successfully implemented in two size ranges: the subnanometre scale, where light–matter mechanical coupling enables cooling of atoms, ions and molecules, and the micrometre scale, where the momentum transfer resulting from light scattering allows manipulation of microscopic objects such as cells. But it has been difficult to apply these techniques to the intermediate — nanoscale — range that includes structures such as quantum dots, nanowires, nanotubes, graphene and two-dimensional crystals, all of crucial importance for nanomaterials-based applications. Recently, however, several new approaches have been developed and demonstrated for trapping plasmonic nanoparticles, semiconductor nanowires and carbon nanostructures. Here we review the state-of-the-art in optical trapping at the nanoscale, with an emphasis on some of the most promising advances, such as controlled manipulation and assembly of individual and multiple nanostructures, force measurement with femtonewton resolution, and biosensors.

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Figure 1: The three size ranges of optical trapping.
Figure 2: Basic experimental designs.
Figure 3: Optical manipulation and placement of nanowires.
Figure 4: Plasmonic tweezers.
Figure 5: Photonic force microscope.
Figure 6: Spectroscopy of nanostructures in optical traps.
Figure 7: Nanoparticle levitation and laser cooling.

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Acknowledgements

We thank F. Bonaccorso, B. Fazio, C. J. Foot, M. G. Donato, M. A. Iatì, A. Irrera, R. Saija, S. Savasta and G. Volpe for discussions. We acknowledge funding from FP7-HEALTH-F5-2009-241818 NANOANTENNA, MPNS COST Action 1205 “Advances in Optofluidics: Integration of Optical Control and Photonics with Microfluidics”, the Leverhulme Trust, the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) under Grants 111T758 and 112T235, Marie Curie Career Integration Grant (MC-CIG) under Grant PCIG11 GA-2012-321726, COST Action IC1208, the Royal Society, the European Research Council Grant NANOPOTS, EU Grants RODIN, MEM4WIN, and Graphene Flagship, EPSRC grants EP/K01711X/1, EP/K017144/1, EP/G042357/1 and Nokia Research Centre, Cambridge.

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Maragò, O., Jones, P., Gucciardi, P. et al. Optical trapping and manipulation of nanostructures. Nature Nanotech 8, 807–819 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.208

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