Abstract
Opto-thermoelectric tweezers (OTET), which exploit the thermophoretic matter migration under a light-directed temperature field, present a new platform for manipulating colloidal particles with a wide range of materials, sizes, and shapes. Taking advantage of the entropically favorable photon-phonon conversion in light-absorbing materials and spatial separation of dissolved ions in electrolytes, OTET can manipulate the particles in a low-power and high-resolution fashion. In this mini-review, we summarize the concept, working principles, and applications of OTET. Recent developments of OTET in three-dimensional manipulation and parallel trapping of particles are discussed thoroughly. We further present their initial applications in particle filtration and biological studies. With their future development, OTET are expected to find a wide range of applications in life sciences, nanomedicine, colloidal sciences, photonics, and materials sciences.
Highlights
Proposed by Ashkin [1, 2], optical tweezers have been broadly used to precisely manipulate bacteria, cells, quantum dots, plasmonic particles, and various dielectric particles in both two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) spaces [3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Optothermal manipulation of colloidal particles under light-directed thermoelectric fields has been demonstrated as an effective technique to trap and manipulate particles with a wide range of sizes, geometries, and compositions [53, 54]
Due to the low operational power and tunable working wavelengths, OTET are promising for a wide range of applications in nanomanufacturing, colloidal sciences, nanophotonics and life sciences
Summary
Taking advantage of the entropically favorable photon-phonon conversion in light-absorbing materials and spatial separation of dissolved ions in electrolytes, OTET can manipulate the particles in a lowpower and high-resolution fashion. In this mini-review, we summarize the concept, working principles, and applications of OTET. Recent developments of OTET in threedimensional manipulation and parallel trapping of particles are discussed thoroughly. We further present their initial applications in particle filtration and biological studies.
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