Laser tweezers manipulate objects just 50 nanometers wide
Technique could allow scientists to move proteins, viruses and nanomaterials
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ag_tweezer_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
BEAD CAPTURE A 50-nanometer-wide plastic bead (yellow circle, center) is trapped by light in this illustration. Laser light gets focused by a bow tie–shaped hole etched into a thin gold film at the tip of an optical fiber.
R. Quidant