Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation

Ziyi He; Jianyun Xiong; Yang Shi; Ting Pan; Shaobiao Chen; Xin Zhang; Yizhen Chen; Xiangxian Wang; Baojun Li; Hongbao Xin

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02199-4

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation

Original Articles

- Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation
- Light: Science & Applications Vol. 15, Issue 3, Pages: 716-727(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Nanophotonic Manipulation, Institute of Nanophotonics, College of Physics & Optoelectronic Engineering, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
  2.School of Science, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, China
- Author bio：
  
  Baojun Li (baojunli@jnu.edu.cn)
  Hongbao Xin (hongbaoxin@jnu.edu.cn)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02199-4
  CLC：
- Received：23 September 2025，
  
  Revised：2026-01-08，
  
  Accepted：14 January 2026，
  
  Online First：03 February 2026，
  
  Published：31 March 2026
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
He, Z. Y., Xiong, J. Y., Shi, Y. et al. Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 716-727 (2026).
DOI：

He, Z. Y., Xiong, J. Y., Shi, Y. et al. Flexible, stretchable, on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle manipulation. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 716-727 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02199-4.

摘要

Abstract

High-throughput trapping and precision manipulation of individual pathogenic bioparticles in complex microenvironments are of great importance for in-vitro diagnostics and drug screening. Although optical tweezers have been widely used for bioparticle trapping and manipulation

the throughput

functionality

and adaptability are still limited for on-chip integrated bioparticle manipulation in complex and dynamic bioenvironments. Here

we report flexible

stretchable

on-chip optical tweezers (FSOT) based on large-scale orderly assembled microlenses for high-throughput manipulation of bioparticles in complex bio-environments and on flexible substrates

including soft bio-substrates such as skin and intestines. Large-scale (up to 1000) photonic nanojet effect of the microlenses enables high-throughput trapping

sorting

and modulation of individual bioparticles with sizes ranging from sub-100 nm to tens of micrometers

such as exosomes

bacteria and mammalian cells. Our FSOT exhibits high flexibility

which enables bioparticle trapping and sorting in complex and curved biological microenvironments. Importantly

our FSOT also exhibits high deformability and stretchability

which facilitates the control of inter-cellular distance between trapped neighboring cells

enabling real-time modulating and monitoring the interaction between single pathogenic bacteria and macrophage. Our FSOT represents a new class of on-chip optical tweezers for high-throughput bioparticle trapping and manipulation with the features of high flexibility and stretchability

and holds great promises as an integrated on-chip platform for high-throughput dynamic analysis of bioparticles

for revealing inter-cellular interactions between pathogenic bioparticles and host cells

and for precise drug screening.

关键词

Keywords

references

Dong, S. L. et al. Early cancer detection by serum biomolecular fingerprinting spectroscopy with machine learning. eLight 3 , 17 (2023)..

Zhou, D. J. et al. Diagnostic evaluation of a deep learning model for optical diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Nat. Commun. 11 , 2961 (2020)..

Cheng, P. H. & Pu, K. Y. Molecular imaging and disease theranostics with renal-clearable optical agents. Nat. Rev. Mater. 6 , 1095–1113 (2021)..

Pöhlker, M. L. et al. Respiratory aerosols and droplets in the transmission of infectious diseases. Rev. Mod. Phys. 95 , 045001 (2023)..

Dawson, K. A. & Yan, Y. Current understanding of biological identity at the nanoscale and future prospects. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16 , 229–242 (2021)..

Pang, Y. J. et al. Optical trapping of individual human immunodeficiency viruses in culture fluid reveals heterogeneity with single-molecule resolution. Nat. Nanotechnol. 9 , 624–630 (2014)..

Xiong, J. Y. et al. Wake-riding effect-inspired opto-hydrodynamic diatombot for non-invasive trapping and removal of nano-biothreats. Adv. Sci. 10 , 2370112 (2023)..

Liberale, C. et al. Integrated microfluidic device for single-cell trapping and spectroscopy. Sci. Rep. 3 , 01258 (2013)..

Zhang, X. et al. Waveguide superlattices with artificial gauge field toward colorless and low-crosstalk ultrahigh-density photonic integration. Adv. Photonics 7 , 016002 (2025)..

Sun, Y. Y. et al. Large-scale optical traps on a chip for optical sorting. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 , 031107 (2007)..

Gossett, D. R. et al. Label-free cell separation and sorting in microfluidic systems. Anal. Bioanal. Chem. 397 , 3249–3267 (2010)..

Glückstad, J. Sorting particles with light. Nat. Mater. 3 , 9–10 (2004)..

Yang, M. et al. Optical sorting: past, present and future. Light Sci. Appl. 14 , 103 (2025)..

Rytik, A. P. & Tuchin, V. V. Effect of terahertz radiation on cells and cellular structures. Front. Optoelectron. 18 , 2 (2025)..

Zhu, G. S. et al. Neural stimulation and modulation with sub-cellular precision by optomechanical bio-dart. Light Sci. Appl. 13 , 258 (2024)..

Xiong, J. Y. et al. Light-controlled soft bio-microrobot. Light Sci. Appl. 13 , 55 (2024)..

Fanous, M. J. et al. Neural network-based processing and reconstruction of compromised biophotonic image data. Light Sci. Appl. 13 , 231 (2024)..

Lu, D. Y. et al. Dynamic monitoring of oscillatory enzyme activity of individual live bacteria via nanoplasmonic optical antennas. Nat. Photonics 17 , 904–911 (2023)..

Chen, H. R. et al. Bacterial identification by metabolite-level interpretable surface-enhanced Raman spectrosc opy. Adv. Photonics 7 , 046007 (2025)..

Lin, H. N. & Cheng, J. X. Computational coherent Raman scattering imaging: breaking physical barriers by fusion of advanced instrumentation and data science. eLight 3 , 6 (2023)..

Xin, H. B. et al. Optical forces: from fundamental to biological applications. Adv. Mater. 32 , 2001994 (2020)..

Shen, L. et al. Joint subarray acoustic tweezers enable controllable cell translation, rotation, and deformation. Nat. Commun. 15 , 9059 (2024)..

Dholakia, K., Drinkwater, B. W. & Ritsch-Marte, M. Comparing acoustic and optical forces for biomedical research. Nat. Rev. Phys. 2 , 480–491 (2020)..

Ozcelik, A. et al. Acoustic tweezers for the life sciences. Nat. Methods 15 , 1021–1028 (2018)..

Tian, Z. H. et al. Wave number–spiral acoustic tweezers for dynamic and reconfigurable manipulation of particles and cells. Sci. Adv. 5 , eaau6062 (2019)..

Wang, J. et al. Tailoring light on three-dimensional photonic chips: a platform for versatile OAM mode optical interconnects. Adv. Photonics 5 , 036004 (2023)..

Li, G. et al. Crossing the dimensional divide with optoelectronic tweezers: multicomponent light-driven micromachines with motion transfer in three dimensions. Adv. Mater. 37 , 2417742 (2025)..

Huang, K. W. et al. Optoelectronic tweezers integrated with lensfree holographic microscopy for wide-field interactive cell and particle manipulation on a chip. Lab a Chip 13 , 2278–2284 (2013)..

Tanase, M., Biais, N. & Sheetz, M. Magnetic tweezers in cell biology. Methods Cell Biol. 83 , 473–493 (2007)..

Gosse, C. & Croquette, V. Magnetic tweezers: micromanipulation and force measurement at the molecular level. Biophysical J. 82 , 3314–3329 (2002)..

Timonen, J. V. I. & Grzybowski, B. A. Tweezing of magnetic and non-magnetic objects with magnetic fields. Adv. Mater. 29 , 1603516 (2017)..

Shan, X. C. et al. Sub-femtone wton force sensing in solution by super-resolved photonic force microscopy. Nat. Photonics 18 , 913–921 (2024)..

Stoev, I. D. et al. Highly sensitive force measurements in an optically generated, harmonic hydrodynamic trap. eLight 1 , 7 (2021)..

Xin, H. B. et al. Optically controlled living micromotors for the manipulation and disruption of biological targets. Nano Lett. 20 , 7177–7185 (2020)..

Zhong, M. C. et al. Trapping red blood cells in living animals using optical tweezers. Nat. Commun. 4 , 1768 (2013)..

Xin, H. B., Xu, R. & Li, B. J. Optical trapping, driving and arrangement of particles using a tapered fibre probe. Sci. Rep. 2 , 818 (2012)..

Padgett, M. & Di Leonardo, R. Holographic optical tweezers and their relevance to lab on chip devices. Lab a Chip 11 , 1196–1205 (2011)..

Kim, H. et al. In situ single-atom array synthesis using dynamic holographic optical tweezers. Nat. Commun. 7 , 13317 (2016)..

Sneh, T. et al. Optical tweezing of microparticles and cells using silicon-photonics-based optical phased arrays. Nat. Commun. 15 , 8493 (2024)..

Yu, S. L. et al. On-chip optical tweezers based on freeform optics. Optica 8 , 409–414 (2021)..

Zhang, Y. Q. et al. Plasmonic tweezers: for nanoscale optical trapping and beyond. Light Sci. Appl. 10 , 59 (2021)..

Hong, C. C., Yang, S. & Ndukaife, J. C. Stand-off trapping and manipulation of sub-10 nm objects and biomolecules using opto-thermo-electrohydrodynamic tweezers. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15 , 908–913 (2020)..

Karabchevsky, A. et al. On-chip nanophotonics and future challenges. Nanophotonics 9 , 3733–3753 (2020)..

Renaut, C. et al. On chip shapeable optical tweezers. Sci. Rep. 3 , 2290 (2013)..

Lu, Y. et al. Upconversion-based chiral nanoprobe for highly selective dual-mode sensing and bioimaging of hydrogen sulfide in vitro and in vivo. Light Sci. Appl. 13 , 180 (2024) ..

Xiong, J. Y. et al. Photonic nanojet-regulated soft microalga-robot with controllable deformation and navigation capability. PhotoniX 5 , 43 (2024)..

He, Z. Y. et al. Opto-thermal-tension mediated precision large-scale particle manipulation and flexible patterning. Adv. Sci. 11 , 2405211 (2024)..

Shi, Y. et al. Spontaneous particle ordering, sorting, and assembly on soap films. Nano Lett. 24 , 6433–6440 (2024)..

Li, Y. F. et al. Pressure-controlled nanoimprint lithography achieves over 20% efficiency in organic solar cells. Adv. Funct. Mater. 35 , 2424327 (2025)..

Chen, D. et al. Light-regulated microstructure growth of dynamic hydrogels for flexible manufacturing of microlens arrays. Chem. Bio Eng. 2 , 350–357 (2025)..

Sumerel, J. et al. Piezoelectric ink jet processing of materials for medicaland biological applications. Biotechnol. J. 1 , 976–987 (2006)..

Li, Y. C. e t al. Manipulation and detection of single nanoparticles and biomolecules by a photonic nanojet. Light Sci. Appl. 5 , e16176 (2016)..

Leite, I. T. et al. Three-dimensional holographic optical manipulation through a high-numerical-aperture soft-glass multimode fibre. Nat. Photonics 12 , 33–39 (2018)..

Li, X. et al. Artificial potential field-empowered dynamic holographic optical tweezers for particle-array assembly and transformation. PhotoniX 5 , 32 (2024)..

Views

Downloads

CSCD

Alert me when the article has been cited

Submit

Tools

Publicity Resources

No data

Related Author

No data

Related Institution

No data

⁰