Plasmonic Optical Tweezers for Particle Manipulation: Principles, Methods, and Applications

Ren, Yatao; Chen, Qin; He, Mingjian; Zhang, Xiangzhi; Qi, Hong; Yan, Yuying

Abstract

Inspired by the idea of combining conventional optical tweezers with plasmonic nanostructures, a technique named plasmonic optical tweezers (POT) has been widely explored from fundamental principles to applications. With the ability to break the diffraction barrier and enhance the localized electromagnetic field, POT techniques are especially effective for high spatial-resolution manipulation of nanoscale or even subnanoscale objects, from small bioparticles to atoms. In addition, POT can be easily integrated with other techniques such as lab-on-chip devices, which results in a very promising alternative technique for high-throughput single-bioparticle sensing or imaging. Despite its label-free, high-precision, and high-spatial-resolution nature, it also suffers from some limitations. One of the main obstacles is that the plasmonic nanostructures are located over the surfaces of a substrate, which makes the manipulation of bioparticles turn from a three-dimensional problem to a nearly two-dimensional problem. Meanwhile, the operation zone is limited to a predefined area. Therefore, the target objects must be delivered to the operation zone near the plasmonic structures. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art target delivery methods for the POT-based particle manipulating technique, along with its applications in single-bioparticle analysis/imaging, high-throughput bioparticle purifying, and single-atom manipulation. Future developmental perspectives of POT techniques are also discussed.

Citation

Ren, Y., Chen, Q., He, M., Zhang, X., Qi, H., & Yan, Y. (2021). Plasmonic Optical Tweezers for Particle Manipulation: Principles, Methods, and Applications. ACS Nano, 15(4), 6105-6128. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c00466

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 5, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Apr 9, 2021
• Publication Date: Apr 27, 2021
• Deposit Date: Apr 28, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 10, 2022
• Journal: ACS Nano
• Print ISSN: 1936-0851
• Electronic ISSN: 1936-086X
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 6105-6128
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c00466
• Keywords: General Engineering; General Physics and Astronomy; General Materials Science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5500669
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsnano.1c00466
• Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Nano, copyright © American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acsnano.1c00466.