title: Laser trapping of colloidal metal nanoparticles.
abstract: Optical trapping using focused laser beams (laser tweezers) has been proven to be extremely useful for contactless manipulation of a variety of small objects, including biological cells, organelles within cells, and a wide range of other dielectric micro- and nano-objects. Colloidal metal nanoparticles have drawn increasing attention in the field of optical trapping because of their unique interactions with electromagnetic radiation, caused by surface plasmon resonance effects, enabling a large number of nano-optical applications of high current interest. Here we try to give a comprehensive overview of the field of laser trapping and manipulation of metal nanoparticles based on results reported in the recent literature. We also discuss and describe the fundamentals of optical forces in the context of plasmonic nanoparticles, including effects of polarization, optical angular momentum, and laser heating effects, as well as the various techniques that have been used to trap and manipulate metal nanoparticles. We conclude by suggesting possible directions for future research.
authors: †Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors: Anni
authors: A
authors: Lehmuskero
authors: †Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.|‡School of Science and Technology, Örebro University, 701 82 Örebro, Sweden.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Johansson
authors: §Quantum Science Laboratory, School of Mathematics and Physics, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
authors: Halina
authors: H
authors: Rubinsztein-Dunlop
authors: ∥Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing Science and Engineering Center for Nanocarbons, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.|⊥Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
authors: Lianming
authors: L
authors: Tong
authors: †Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, 412 96 Göteborg, Sweden.
authors: Mikael
authors: M
authors: Käll
mesh_terms: D003102:Colloids; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D052898:Optical Tweezers
chemical_list: D003102:Colloids
keywords: colloidal metal nanoparticles; interparticle forces; laser heating; laser tweezers; optical force; optical manipulation; optical torque; surface plasmon resonance