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(Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Defense)
Researchers have created tiny chip-based optical tweezers that can be used to optically levitate nanoparticles in a vacuum. Optical tweezers use a tightly focused laser beam to hold the nanoparticles. Usually, optical traps are produced with bulky optical components, but in this case, the on-chip optical levitation was realized with an ultrathin metalens. Accomplishing this feat in a vacuum helps improve the sensitivity of the system.
