ultrathin metalens tagged posts

Chip-Based Optical Tweezers Levitate Nanoparticles in a Vacuum

Schematic of optically levitating a nanoparticle with a metalens in a vacuum. The metalens focuses a laser beam to create chip-based optical tweezers.
Credit: Kunhong Shen, Purdue University

Metalens-based design shrinks footprint, making optical traps practical for precision sensing and measurements.

Researchers have created tiny chip-based optical tweezers that can be used to optically levitate nanoparticles in a vacuum. Optical tweezers — which employ a tightly focused laser beam to hold living cells, nanoparticles and other objects — can be used for a variety of precision measurements and sensing applications. However, these optical traps are usually produced with bulky optical components.

“By using an ultrathin metalens, we reduced the diameter of the focusing lens from about...

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