Nanoscale Force Measurement with Optical Tweezers: Applications and Future Prospects in Biophotonics
Abstract Optical tweezers have found extensive applications across the realms of biophysics and nanoscience due to its ability to capture particles at both micro‐ and nanoscales. Serving as nanoscale force sensors, optical tweezers are capable of measuring physical properties of nanoparticles with piconewton‐level precision, offering significantly higher accuracy compared to other measurement techniques, particularly for the biological samples. Given the rapid advancements in optical tweezers, a comprehensive review of their role in force measurement is imperative. This review begins with the fundamental interactions in biophysics, exploring how optical tweezers measure a variety of forces, such as the Casimir force, van der Waals force, and double‐layer forces. Subsequently, the recent development in the application of optical tweezers across biomedical fields is focused on, including studies of cells, nucleic acids, proteins, and quantum mechanics. Finally, a detailed assessment of the potential and limitations of force measurement utilizing advanced optical tweezer technologies, emphasizing their impact and future applicability in the fields of biophysics and biophotonics, is offered.
Authors
- Yonghong Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6373-8545)
- Yili Zhong
- Yuhang Peng
- Junle Qu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7833-4711)
- Yuye Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-2509)
- Yan‐Li Ji (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9858-5614)
- Xiaoqi Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5065-7989)
- Jianxing Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3365-947X)
- Ho‐Pui Ho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5001-5911)
- Shuwen Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2188-7213)
- Haoyu Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1477-0095)
- Zhi Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7630-0021)
- Jiajie Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3501-1570)
- Jinming Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3404-4506)
- Meiting Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0596-0364)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Université de Technologie de Troyes (FR)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Shenzhen University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Optical Materials
- Published
- 2025-04-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202403140
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.74
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Guangdong Science and Technology Department
- Shenzhen University
- Department of Education of Guangdong Province
- Key Technologies Research and Development Program
- National Key Research and Development Program of China