The light touch

摘要

Holding and moving objects using light might seem like science fiction, but it is actually science fact - at the microscopic scale. The characteristics of light and light-matter interactions on a small scale have allowed some astounding scientific advances in the last forty years. The invention of the laser opened up many new research fields including optical micromanipulation - where light exerts a force, to hold (trap) and move objects. This force comes from transferring momentum possessed by light to objects.