The fact that light carries both linear and angular momentum is well-known to physicists.
One application of the linear momentum of light is for optical tweezers, in which the …

Since their invention just over 20 years ago, optical traps have emerged as a powerful tool
with broad-reaching applications in biology and physics. Capabilities have evolved from …

Optical forces are involved in many physical processes and are used routinely in the
laboratory for manipulating and cooling matter, from the micro down to the quantum scales. It …

Using light to control liquid motion is a new paradigm for the actuation of microfluidic
systems. We review here the different principles and strategies to induce or control liquid …

We calculate optical forces and torques exerted on a chiral dipole by chiral light fields and
reveal genuine chiral forces in combining the chiral contents of both light field and dipolar …

Undoubtedly, laser tweezers are the most recognized application of optically induced
mechanical action. Their operation is usually described in terms of conservative forces …

We have fabricated optically driven micromechanisms and demonstrated their motion under
optical force. All of the movable microcomponents are directly fabricated through an …

The development of rotary nanomotors is an essential step towards intelligent
nanomachines and nanorobots. In this article, we review the concept, design, working …

The optical trapping of nanoparticles and microparticles by a Gaussian standing wave is
experimentally demonstrated for the first time to the authors' knowledge. The standing wave …

The reflection and refraction of light at a dielectric interface gives rise to forces due to
changes in the photon momentum. At the microscopic level, these forces are sufficient to trap …