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 ...

How advanced optical tweezers revolutionized cell manipulation

Optical tweezers (OTs), also known as optical traps, are highly focused laser beams that can be used to trap and manipulate microscopic objects with a noncontact force. Employed in a wide range of nano and micro-scale operations, ...

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.

Two teams use neutral atoms to create quantum circuits

Two teams of researchers working independently have shown the viability of using neutral atoms to create quantum circuits—both have published outlines of their work in the journal Nature. One of the groups, with members ...

Chip-based optical tweezers levitate nanoparticles in a vacuum

Researchers have created tiny chip-based optical tweezers that can be used to optically levitate nanoparticles in a vacuum. Optical tweezers—which employ a tightly focused laser beam to hold living cells, nanoparticles ...

Acoustic tweezers can pick up objects without physical contact

Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University have developed a new technology which allows non-contact manipulation of small objects using sound waves. They used a hemispherical array of ultrasound transducers to generate ...

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 ...

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