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Atomistic modeling and rational design of optothermal tweezers for targeted applications

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Abstract

Optical manipulation of micro/nanoscale objects is of importance in life sciences, colloidal science, and nanotechnology. Optothermal tweezers exhibit superior manipulation capability at low optical intensity. However, our implicit understanding of the working mechanism has limited the further applications and innovations of optothermal tweezers. Herein, we present an atomistic view of opto-thermo-electro-mechanic coupling in optothermal tweezers, which enables us to rationally design the tweezers for optimum performance in targeted applications. Specifically, we have revealed that the non-uniform temperature distribution induces water polarization and charge separation, which creates the thermoelectric field dominating the optothermal trapping. We further design experiments to systematically verify our atomistic simulations. Guided by our new model, we develop new types of optothermal tweezers of high performance using low-concentrated electrolytes. Moreover, we demonstrate the use of new tweezers in opto-thermophoretic separation of colloidal particles of the same size based on the difference in their surface charge, which has been challenging for conventional optical tweezers. With the atomistic understanding that enables the performance optimization and function expansion, optothermal tweezers will further their impacts.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Foundation (No. NSF-CMMI-1761743), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Early Career Faculty Award (No. 80NSSC17K0520), and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (No. DP2GM128446). L. H. L. acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 62075111) and the State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments. The authors are grateful to Prof. Brian A. Korgel and Dr. Taizhi Jiang for providing Si particles. They also thank Yaoran Liu, Jingang Li, Kan Yao and Zhihan Chen for useful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Hongru Ding, Pavana Siddhartha Kollipara & Yuebing Zheng

  2. State Key Laboratory of Precision Measurement Technology and Instruments, Department of Precision Instrument, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Linhan Lin

  3. Materials Science & Engineering Program and Texas Materials Institute, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Yuebing Zheng

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  1. Hongru Ding
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Correspondence to Linhan Lin or Yuebing Zheng.

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Ding, H., Kollipara, P.S., Lin, L. et al. Atomistic modeling and rational design of optothermal tweezers for targeted applications. Nano Res. 14, 295–303 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-020-3087-z

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