Related papers: Hydrodynamic Manipulation of Nano-Objects by Therm…
Optical tweezers, the three-dimensional confinement of a nanoparticle by a strongly focused beam of light, have been widely employed in investigating biomaterial nanomechanics, nanoscopic fluid properties, and ultrasensitive detections in…
This fluid dynamics video showcases how optically induced electrokinetic forces can be used to drive three-dimensional micro-vortices. The strong microfluidic vortices are used constructively in conjunction with other electrokinetic forces…
Continuum simulation is employed to study ion transport and fluid flow through a nanopore in a solid-state membrane under an applied potential drop. Results show the existence of concentration polarization layers on the surfaces of the…
Precise manipulation of small objects using light holds transformative potential across diverse fields. While research in optical trapping and manipulation predominantly relies on the attraction of solid matter to light intensity maxima,…
Microfluidics has revolutionized control over small volumes through the use of physical barriers. However, the rigidity of these barriers limits flexibility in applications. We present an optofluidic toolbox that leverages structured light…
Optical tweezers have revolutionized particle manipulation at the micro- and nanoscale, playing a critical role in fields such as plasmonics, biophysics, and nanotechnology. While traditional optical trapping methods primarily rely on…
Thermo-osmotic and related thermo-phoretic phenomena can be found in many situations from biology to colloid science, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unexplored. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we measured the…
To facilitate the transition of quantum effects from the controlled laboratory environment to practical real-world applications, there is a pressing need for scalable platforms. One promising strategy involves integrating thermal vapors…
Auxiliary nanostructures introduce additional flexibility into optomechanical manipulation schemes. Metamaterials and metasurfaces capable to control electromagnetic interactions at the near-field regions are especially beneficial for…
Versatile manipulation of nano- and microobjects underlies the optomechanics and a variety of its applications in biology, medicine, and lab-on-a-chip platforms. For flexible tailoring optical forces, as well as for extraordinary…
Self-organized collective behaviour of active units is inspiring new designs of artificial swarms of micron-sized objects. However, active control at the nanoscale remains elusive. We have accurately solved the collective optofluidic…
Interfacial polar molecules feature a strongly anisotropic response to applied electric field, favoring dipole orientations parallel to the interface. In water, in particular, this effect combines with generic orientational preferences…
We report experiments that show rapid crystallization of colloids tethered to an oil-water interface in response to laser illumination. This light-induced transition is due to a combination of long-ranged thermophoretic pumping and local…
Directed high-speed motion of nanoscale objects in fluids (nano swimmers) can have a wide range of applications like molecular machinery, nano robotics, drug delivery, and material assembly. Here, we report ballistic plasmonic Au…
The ability to induce regions of high and low ionic concentration adjacent to a permeselective membrane or nanochannel subject to an externally applied electric field (a phenomenon termed concentration-polarization) has been used for a…
Optomechanical manipulation of micro and nano-scale objects with laser beams finds use in a large span of multidisciplinary applications. Auxiliary nanostructuring could substantially improve performances of classical optical tweezers by…
Thermo-osmosis refers to fluid migration due to temperature gradient. The mechanistic understanding of thermo-osmosis in charged nano-porous media is still incomplete, while it is important for several environmental and energy applications,…
Nanodroplets residing near wedges or edges of solid substrates exhibit a disjoining pressure induced dynamics. Our nanoscale hydrodynamic calculations reveal that non-volatile droplets are attracted or repelled from edges or wedges…
Our Society is in high need of alternatives to fossil fuels. Nanoporous systems filled with aqueous electrolytes show great promises for harvesting the osmotic energy of sea water or waste heat. At the core of energy conversion in such…
We report on the first micro-scale observation of the velocity field imposed by a non-uniform heat content along the solid/liquid boundary. We determine both radial and vertical velocity components of this thermo-osmotic flow field by…