Recent Progress on Optical Micro/Nanomanipulations: Structured Forces, Structured Particles, and Synergetic Applications

Optical manipulation has achieved great success in the fields of biology, micro/nano robotics and physical sciences in the past few decades. To date, the optical manipulation is still witnessing substantial progress powered by the growing accessibility of the complex light field, advanced nanofabrication and developed understandings of light-matter interactions. In this perspective, we highlight recent advancements of optical micro/nanomanipulations in cutting-edge applications, which can be fostered by structured optical forces enabled with diverse auxiliary multiphysical field/ forces and structured particles. We conclude with our vision of ongoing and futuristic directions, including heat-avoided and heat-utilized manipulation, nonlinearity-mediated trapping and manipulation, metasurface/two-dimensional material based optical manipulation, as well as interface-based optical manipulation.

Automated summary

Optical manipulation has achieved significant success in various fields and continues to advance. Recent advancements include the use of auxiliary multiphysical fields and structured particles for optical micro/nanomanipulation. Future directions include heat-controlled manipulation, nonlinearity-mediated trapping and manipulation, metasurface/two-dimensional material-based optical manipulation, as well as interface-based optical manipulation.