Optoelectronic tweezers — a new parallel optical manipulation tool

Optoelectronic tweezers (OET) has recently emerged as a novel and powerful technique for optical manipulation of microscopic and nanoscopic particles. Previously, OET manipulation and separation of various cell types, polystyrene beads, and semiconducting and metallic nanowires have been demonstrated. In this paper, we present some of the recent advances in the optoelectronic tweezers technology. In particular, trapping and manipulation of metallic spherical nanoparticles with diameters below 100 nm, parallel assembly of nanowires using lateral-field optoelectronic tweezers (LOET), and assembly of InGaAs/InGaAsP multi-quantum well (MQW) microdisk lasers (201 nm thick, 6 mum in diameter) using LOET are discussed.