title: Holographic optical trapping.
abstract: Holographic optical tweezers use computer-generated holograms to create arbitrary three-dimensional configurations of single-beam optical traps that are useful for capturing, moving, and transforming mesoscopic objects. Through a combination of beam-splitting, mode-forming, and adaptive wavefront correction, holographic traps can exert precisely specified and characterized forces and torques on objects ranging in size from a few nanometers to hundreds of micrometers. Offering nanometer-scale spatial resolution and real-time reconfigurability, holographic optical traps provide unsurpassed access to the microscopic world and have found applications in fundamental research, manufacturing, and materials processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Center for Soft Matter Research, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, New York 10003, USA. david.grier@nyu.edu
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Grier
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Roichman