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Optically induced 'negative forces'

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 24–27 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The idea of using optical beams to attract objects has long been a dream of scientists and the public alike. Over the years, a number of proposals have attempted to bring this concept to life. Here we review the most recent progress in this emerging field, including new concepts for manipulating small objects using optically induced 'negative forces', achieved by tailoring the properties of the electromagnetic field, the environment or the particles themselves.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Tailoring the environment.
Figure 3: Tailoring interactions with other objects.
Figure 4: Tailoring the properties of the object.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank E. Sahagún for help in preparing figures. A.D. and S.S. acknowledge partial support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Science Foundation. J.J.S. acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación through Consolider NanoLight (CSD2007-00046) and from the Comunidad de Madrid Microseres-CM (S2009/TIC-1476).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics at the University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Boulevard, Orlando, 32816, Florida, USA

    Aristide Dogariu & Sergey Sukhov

  2. Condensed Matter Physics Department and Centro de Investigación en Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, 28049, Spain

    José Sáenz

  3. Donostia International Physics Center, Donostia-San Sebastián, 20018, Spain

    José Sáenz

Authors
  1. Aristide Dogariu
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  2. Sergey Sukhov
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  3. José Sáenz
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Correspondence to Aristide Dogariu.

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Dogariu, A., Sukhov, S. & Sáenz, J. Optically induced 'negative forces'. Nature Photon 7, 24–27 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2012.315

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