UW News
Vincent Holmberg
November 4, 2019
Light-based ‘tractor beam’ assembles materials at the nanoscale
![A diagram of an optical trap](https://uw-s3-cdn.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2019/11/04082311/Nature-Communications-Highlight-Image-150x150.jpg)
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a method that could make reproducible manufacturing at the nanoscale possible. The team adapted a light-based technology employed widely in biology — known as optical traps or optical tweezers — to operate in a water-free liquid environment of carbon-rich organic solvents, thereby enabling new potential applications.