Dear Colleagues,

Since Arthur Ashkin and his colleagues first demonstrated the concept of optical tweezers in 1986, the field of optical trapping and manipulation has witnessed remarkable development. Arthur Ashkin's groundbreaking work was globally recognized when he was awarded with the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems". Optical tweezers employ tightly focused laser beams to capture and manipulate a diverse range of objects, involving atoms, particles, living cells, and viruses. This technology has revolutionized our ability to explore the microscopic world.

In addition to the use of tightly focused laser beams, near-field nanotweezers have received significant interest. They offer the advantages of low-power and stable trapping of nanosized objects. Furthermore, the integration of optofluidics and photothermal control is under rigorous study to design high-throughput and biocompatible tweezing platforms. The scope of optical manipulation also extends from biological applications to other fields such as atomic physics, quantum computing, acceleration sensing, nanofabrication, and other branches of nanotechnology.

This Special Issue, titled ‘Nanoscale Optical Manipulation: Fundamentals, Current Advancements, and Future Prospects’, invites contributions that explore the cutting-edge developments in the realm of optical nanomanipulation. We welcome manuscripts that discuss new fundamental physics, present experimental observations, or highlight unique perspectives on optical manipulation techniques. We will accept submissions of research articles, review papers, as well as short communications.

Dr. Chuchuan Hong
Dr. Sen Yang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• optical tweezers
• optical force
• nanotweezers
• optofluidics
• photophoretic effects
• radiation pressure
• dual-beam trapping
• nanoparticles
• nanomanipulations
• photo-induced heating