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Tweezers with a light touch

Nature Structural Biology volume 8, pages 1013–1014 (2001)Cite this article

Some people view physics and biology as two very distantly related scientific disciplines. However, progress in physics can sometimes have a significant impact on biology. A case in point is the development of optical tweezers, a technique that uses light to trap and manipulate small objects the size of virus particles or bacteria.

The basic principle of optical tweezers is quite simple. Although light particles have no mass, they have momentum and exert minute forces, called radiation pressure, when absorbed or refracted by an uncharged object, such as an atom or a latex sphere. By using a high intensity light source — that is, a laser — and focusing the light to create an intensity gradient along the axis of the beam, the differential in radiation pressure exerted on an object is sufficient to push it toward and trap it at the focus point.

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Authors
  1. Hwa-ping Feng
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Feng, Hp. Tweezers with a light touch. Nat Struct Mol Biol 8, 1013–1014 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsb1201-1013

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