A device that is used to manipulated particles such as atoms or molecules. It works by pushing the particles about by radiation pressure associated with a laser. Since optical tweezers can be used to manipulate strands of DNA they may have important applications in biotechnology.
Chemistry
A device that is used to exert a force on microscopic bodies and hence to hold, move, and manipulate these bodies. Optical tweezers have been used to study molecules of biological interest since the 1980s.