Optical Tweezers

Optical Tweezers use light to manipulate microscopic objects as small as a single atom. The radiation pressure from a focused laser beam is able to trap small particles. In the biological sciences, these instruments have been used to apply forces and to measure displacements of objects.

• Arthur Ashkin won half of the prize for his invention of optical tweezers. Sharing the other half of the prize are Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland, who developed techniques for generating high-intensity laser pulses that can stimulate a target on femtosecond (10−15-second) timescales.