Optical tweezers
Allows tiny organisms to be handled with beams of light
Sphere
Laser beam
1
Gradient force
Centre,
highest
intensity
2
Lens
3
Sphere held in place
using optical tweezers
1 Small transparent spheres are set in motion
when they are illuminated with laser light
2 Gradient force pushes spheres towards
centre of beam, where light is most intense
3 Laser beam is focused with a lens, creating
optical tweezers
Ultra-sharp laser beams
Can cut or drill holes in various materials extremely precisely – even in living matter
From nanosecond
to femtosecond
Short,
intense
laser
pulses
Heated
area
Shock waves
that cause
damage
Nanosecond pulses
Lasting a billionth of
a second
Femtosecond pulses
Lasting a millionth of
a billionth of a second
The shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind. Their technique is now used in corrective eye surgery, where millions of eye operations are performed every year with the sharpest of laser beams
Optical tweezers
Ultra-sharp laser beams
Allows tiny organisms to be handled with beams of light
Can cut or drill holes in various materials extremely precisely – even in living matter
Sphere
Laser beam
From nanosecond
to femtosecond
Short,
intense
laser
pulses
1
Heated
area
Shock waves
that cause
damage
Gradient force
Centre,
highest
intensity
2
Lens
3
Sphere held
in place using
optical tweezers
Nanosecond pulses
Lasting a billionth of
a second
Femtosecond pulses
Lasting a millionth of
a billionth of a second
1 Small transparent spheres are set in motion
The shortest and most intense laser pulses ever created by mankind. Their technique is now used in corrective eye surgery, where millions of eye operations are performed every year with the sharpest of laser beams
when they are illuminated with laser light
2 Gradient force pushes spheres towards
centre of beam, where light is most intense
3 Laser beam is focused with a lens, creating
optical tweezers