Laser Trapping of Colloidal Metal Nanoparticles
Journal article, 2015

Optical trapping using focused laser beams (laser tweezers) has been proven to be extremely useful for contactless manipulation of a variety of small objects, including biological cells, organelles within cells, and a wide range of other dielectric micro- and nano-objects. Colloidal metal nanoparticles have drawn increasing attention in the field of optical trapping because of their unique interactions with electromagnetic radiation, caused by surface plasmon resonance effects, enabling a large number of nano-optical applications of high current interest. Here we try to give a comprehensive overview of the field of laser trapping and manipulation of metal nanoparticles based on results reported in the recent literature. We also discuss and describe the fundamentals of optical forces in the context of plasmonic nanoparticles, including effects of polarization, optical angular momentum, and laser heating effects, as well as the various techniques that have been used to trap and manipulate metal nanoparticles. We conclude by suggesting possible directions for future research.

optical manipulation

laser tweezers

interparticle forces

optical force

colloidal metal nanoparticles

laser heating

surface plasmon resonance

optical torque

Author

Anni Lehmuskero

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Bionanophotonics

Peter Johansson

Örebro University

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Bionanophotonics

Halina Rubinsetein

University of Queensland

Lianming Tong

Beijing University of Technology

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Mikael Käll

Chalmers, Applied Physics, Bionanophotonics

ACS Nano

1936-0851 (ISSN) 1936-086X (eISSN)

Vol. 9 4 3453-3469

Subject Categories

Atom and Molecular Physics and Optics

Nano Technology

DOI

10.1021/acsnano.5b00286

More information

Latest update

8/14/2024