Optical nanoparticles are nowadays one of the key elements of photonics. They do not only allow optical imaging of a plethora of systems (from cells to microelectronics), but also behave as highly ...

Figure 1. (a) Schematic diagram of the optical trapping-enhanced SERS optofluidic detection system; (b) effect of the single-beam optical trap module switch state on AgNPs aggregation; (c1) and (c2) ...

Atomic gravimeters are used to accurately measure gravity by detecting the quantum interference patterns of freely falling atoms in a vacuum. However, these devices are typically bulky and complex, ...

A new light-based breakthrough could help quantum computers finally scale up. Stanford researchers created miniature optical cavities that efficiently collect light from individual atoms, allowing ...

They combined optical tweezers with metasurfaces to trap more than 1,000 atoms, with the potential to capture hundreds of ...

Unlike the other technologies highlighted in this issue, optical trapping systems are not typically purchased off-the-shelf. Rather, they are specially built to custom specifications, often at ...

Given their tiny size, individual atoms are notoriously tricky to see and manipulate, but finding ways to do so would be extremely useful. The invention of the laser in the 1960s eventually led to the ...

Mini-MOT: A new miniaturized optical system for laser cooling atoms in a magneto-optical trap, or MOT. (Courtesy: NIST) The magneto-optical trap, or MOT, is the workhorse of cold-atom physics. Without ...

When Art Ashkin, Steve Chu, and their colleagues at Bell Labs in Holmdel, NJ, first invented optical tweezers, they spent their days pushing around tiny, glass spheres. But it wasn't long after their ...