title: Manipulating metal-oxide nanowires using counter-propagating optical line tweezers.
abstract: Semiconducting nanowires, such as ZnO and Si, are used in the fields of nanophotonics and nanoelectronics. Optical tweezers offer the promise of flexible positional control of such particles in a liquid, but so far this has been limited to either manipulation close to the surface, or to axial trapping of nanowires. We show the three-dimensional trapping of ZnO and silica-coated Si nanowires in counter-propagating line tweezers, and demonstrate translational and rotational in-plane manipulation, away from the surfaces. The high-refractive index particles investigated - ZnO wires (n~1.9) with varying lengths up to 20mum and 6-mum-long silica-coated Si wires (n =3.6) - could not be trapped in single-beam line traps. Opposite surface charges are used to fix the nanowires to a surface. Full translational and in-plane rotational control of semiconducting nanowires expands the possibilities to position individual wires in complex geometries significantly.
authors: Astrid
authors: A
authors: van der Horst
authors: Andrew I
authors: AI
authors: Campbell
authors: Lambert K
authors: LK
authors: van Vugt
authors: Daniël A
authors: DA
authors: Vanmaekelbergh
authors: Marileen
authors: M
authors: Dogterom
authors: Alfons
authors: A
authors: van Blaaderen