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Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Optical Trapping of Nanoparticles

Optical Trapping of Nanoparticles

Published on: January 15, 2013

Optical Potential-Well Array for High-Selectivity, Massive Trapping and Sorting at Nanoscale.

Yuzhi Shi¹, Haitao Zhao¹, Lip Ket Chin¹

¹School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 639798, Singapore.

|June 24, 2020

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This summary is machine-generated.

Researchers developed a new optical tweezers method to sort nanoparticles from 100-500 nm. This technique uses a near-field potential well array to selectively trap particles by tuning laser power.

Area of Science:

Physics
Biomedical Sciences
Nanotechnology

Background:

Optical tweezers are effective for microparticle sorting but struggle with nanoparticles below 200 nm.
Challenges include balancing strong optical forces from focused spots with the need for large sorting areas.

Purpose of the Study:

To overcome limitations in current optical tweezers for nanoparticle separation.
To develop a method for sorting nanoparticles in the 100-500 nm size range.

Main Methods:

Creation of a large-scale near-field potential well array with connected hotspots.
Utilizing differentiated energy depths within the potential wells for separation.
Selective trapping of nanoparticles (200, 300, 500 nm) by tuning laser power.

Keywords:

Nanoparticle separation nanophotonics optical forces potential wells silicon photonics

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Optical Trapping of Nanoparticles

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Trapping of Micro Particles in Nanoplasmonic Optical Lattice

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Main Results:

Successful sorting of nanoparticles sized 100-500 nm.
Demonstrated selective trapping of specific nanoparticle sizes (200, 300, 500 nm).
The method overcomes the limitations of traditional optical tweezers for small nanoparticle separation.

Conclusions:

The developed near-field potential well array offers a robust solution for optical trapping and separation of nanoparticles.
This technique has significant potential for applications in physical and biomedical sciences, including biomolecule separation.