Optical Trapping: Micro-scale Tractor Beams

Presented by Peter Domachuk (CUDOS)

One of the more bizarre effects in physics is optical trapping: small particles are attracted to tightly focused laser beams. This attraction can be strong enough to levitate a particle and move it around in three dimensions. Optical trapping can be used for many things including cell manipulation, cell “surgery” and micro scale sorting. In the school of physics, optical trapping is used as the basis for new photonic devices.

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