Researchers control biofilm formation using optical traps

Biofilms—slimy layers formed when bacteria stick together on a surface—allow bacteria to shield themselves from extreme environments and even evade antibiotics. In a new study, researchers have shown that laser light ...

Physicists develop a perfect light trap

Whether in photosynthesis or in a photovoltaic system: if you want to use light efficiently, you have to absorb it as completely as possible. However, this is difficult if the absorption is to take place in a thin layer of ...

Customized fiber generates Bessel beams

An all fiber-based approach to generating special optical beams, called Bessel beams, could open up new applications in imaging, optical trapping and communications.

Optical levitation of glass nanosphere enables quantum control

Researchers at ETH Zurich have trapped a tiny sphere measuring a hundred nanometres using laser light and slowed down its motion to the lowest quantum mechanical state. This technique could help researchers to study quantum ...

Sorting out nanodiamonds with fluorescent centers

Scientists have long been working on improving their ability to use lasers to move small objects without actually touching them. This method of 'optical trapping and manipulation' is already utilized in optics, biological ...

Trapping nanoparticles with optical tweezers

By exploiting a particular property of light diffraction at the interface between a glass and a liquid, researchers have demonstrated the first optical tweezers capable of trapping nanoscale particles.

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