Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment

Fan Nan; Weida Liao; Adrián Puerta; Josephine Spiegelberg; Elena Erben; Ralf Mikut; Stephan Allgeier; Martin Wegener; Eric Lauga; Moritz Kreysing

doi:10.1038/s41377-026-02303-8

Your Location：

Home >

Browse articles >

Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment

Original Articles

- Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment
- Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment
- Light: Science & Applications 2026年15卷第8期页码：2585-2597
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Institute of Biological and Chemical Systems-FMS, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen 76344, Germany
  2.Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0WA, UK
  3.Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen 76344, Germany
  4.Institute for Automation and Applied Informatics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen 76344, Germany
  5.Institute of Applied Physics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
  6.Present address: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
- Author bio：
  
  Fan Nan (fan.nan@kit.edu)
  Moritz Kreysing (moritz.kreysing@kit.edu)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1038/s41377-026-02303-8
  中图分类号：
- 收稿：2025-12-09，
  
  修回：2026-03-28，
  
  录用：2026-04-09，
  
  网络首发：2026-05-11，
  
  纸质出版：2026-08-31
- Accepted：
Scan QR Code
Fan Nan, Weida Liao, Adrián Puerta, 等. Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(8):2585-2597.

Nan, F. et al. Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 2585-2597 (2026).
Fan Nan, Weida Liao, Adrián Puerta, 等. Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment[J]. Light: Science & Applications, 2026,15(8):2585-2597. DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02303-8.

Nan, F. et al. Helical opto-thermoviscous flows drive out-of-plane rotation and particle spinning in a highly viscous micro-environment. Light: Science & Applications, 15, 2585-2597 (2026). DOI： 10.1038/s41377-026-02303-8.

摘要

Abstract

Contact-free and object-agnostic three-dimensional (3D) rotation remains a challenge at both the micro and nanoscale

with broad relevance to advanced imaging

biology

microrobotics

and materials science. Specifically

precise 3D rotation is desirable in diffusion-suppressing environments

where conventional micromanipulation methods fail. Here we introduce an opto-thermoviscous strategy that scans a focused laser spot within a two-dimensional plane to robustly generate 3D helical thermoviscous flows (TVFs) within highly viscous media. We further report on the discovery of opto-hydrodynamic focusing that converges a spiral motion to a defined particle height. By exploiting symmetry relations

we use rational design to decouple out-of-plane rotation from lateral displacements

leading to stable spinning with positional fluctuations below 200 nm

and demonstrate compatibility with a broad range of microstructures

from nano-printed tiles to stained biological cells

and even perfectly round homogenous spheres. Finally

leveraging the kinematic nature of thermoviscous manipulations

we demonstrate how stepwise rotation

alternated with 3D volumetric microscopy

can be combined with established multi-view image fusion strategies to increase resolution in biological imaging. Conceptually

this elevates TVFs from planar transport to symmetry-engineered volumetric actuation

delivering robust

material-agnostic

out-of-plane rotational control and sheathless opto-hydrodynamic focusing for all-optical micromanipulations and augmented microscopy.

关键词

Keywords

references

Grier, D. G. A revolution in optical manipulation. Nature 424 , 810–816 (2003)..

Weinert, F. M. & Braun, D. Optically driven fluid flow along arbitrary microscale patterns using thermoviscous expansion. J. Appl. Phys. 104 , 104701 (2008)..

Tanyeri, M., Johnson-Chavarria, E. M. & Schroeder, C. M. Hydrodynamic trap for single particles and cells. Appl. Phys. Lett. 96 , 224101 (2010)..

Maragò, O. M. et al. Optical trapping and manipulation of nanostructures. Nat. Nanotechnol. 8 , 807–819 (2013)..

Phillips, D. B. et al. Shape-induced force fields in optical trapping. Nat. Photonics 8 , 400–405 (2014)..

Shenoy, A., Rao, C. V. & Schroeder, C. M. Stokes trap for multiplexed particle manipulation and assembly using fluidics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113 , 3976–3981 (2016)..

Gao, D. L. et al. Optical manipulation from the microscale to the nanoscale: fundamentals, advances and prospects. Light Sci. Appl. 6 , e17039 (2017)..

Shao, L. & Käll, M. Light-driven rotation of plasmonic nanomotors. Adv. Funct. Mater. 28 , 1706272 (2018)..

Būtaitė, U. G. et al. Indirect optical trapping using light driven micro-rotors for reconfigurable hydrodynamic manipulation. Nat. Commun. 10 , 1215 (2019)..

Wang, X. et al. Intracellular manipulation and measurement with multipole magnetic tweezers. Sci. Robot. 4 , eaav6180 (2019)..

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)..

Peng, X. L. et al. Opto-thermoelectric microswimmers. Light Sci. Appl. 9 , 141 (2020)..

Lin, L. H. et al. Opto-thermoelectric pulling of light-absorbing particles. Light Sci. Appl. 9 , 34 (2020)..

Andrén, D. et al. Microscopic metavehicles powered and steered by embedded optical metasurfaces. Nat. Nanotechnol. 16 , 970–974 (2021)..

Fränzl, M. & Cichos, F. Hydrodynamic manipulation of nano-objects by optically induced thermo-osmotic flows. Nat. Commun. 13 , 656 (2022)..

Chen, Z. H., Li, J. G. & Zheng, Y. B. Heat-mediated optical manipulation. Chem. Rev. 122 , 3122–3179 (2022)..

Ding, H. R. et al. Universal optotherma l micro/nanoscale rotors. Sci. Adv. 8 , eabn8498 (2022)..

Wu, X. F. et al. Light-driven microdrones. Nat. Nanotechnol. 17 , 477–484 (2022)..

Yang, S. J. et al. Harmonic acoustics for dynamic and selective particle manipulation. Nat. Mater. 21 , 540–546 (2022)..

Schmidt, F. et al. Tunable critical Casimir forces counteract Casimir–Lifshitz attraction. Nat. Phys. 19 , 271–278 (2023)..

Wang, G. et al. Nanoalignment by critical Casimir torques. Nat. Commun. 15 , 5086 (2024)..

Engay, E. et al. Transverse optical gradient force in untethered rotating metaspinners. Light Sci. Appl. 14 , 38 (2025)..

Alapan, Y. et al. Shape-encoded dynamic assembly of mobile micromachines. Nat. Mater. 18 , 1244–1251 (2019)..

Gardi, G. etal. Microrobot collectives with reconfigurable morphologies, behaviors, and functions. Nat. Commun. 13 , 2239 (2022)..

Schmidt, F. et al. Three-dimensional optofluidic control using reconfigurable thermal barriers. Nat. Photonics 19 , 1385–1391 (2025)..

Li, X. et al. Optical tweeze-sectioning microscopy for 3D imaging and manipulation of suspended cells. Sci. Adv. 11 , eadx3900 (2025)..

Moser, S. et al. Optical tomography reconstructing 3D motion and structure of multiple-scattering samples under rotational actuation. Optica 12 , 594–603 (2025)..

Swoger, J. et al. Multi-view image fusion improves resolution in three-dimensional microscopy. Opt. Express 15 , 8029–8042 (2007)..

Bliokh, K. Y. & Nori, F. Transverse and longitudinal angular momenta of light. Phys. Rep. 592 , 1–38 (2015)..

Chong, A. et al. Generation of spatiotemporal optical vortices with controllable transverse orbital angular momentum. Nat. Photonics 14 , 350–354 (2020)..

Ahn, J. et al. Ultrasensitive torque detect ion with an optically levitated nanorotor. Nat. Nanotechnol. 15 , 89–93 (2020)..

Stilgoe, A. B., Nieminen, T. A. & Rubinsztein-Dunlop, H. Controlled transfer of transverse orbital angular momentum to optically trapped birefringent microparticles. Nat. Photonics 16 , 346–351 (2022)..

Hu, Y. H. et al. Structured transverse orbital angular momentum probed by a levitated optomechanical sensor. Nat. Commun. 14 , 2638 (2023)..

Xu, X. H. et al. Gradient and curl optical torques. Nat. Commun. 15 , 6230 (2024)..

Wu, Y. J. et al. Time-varying 3D optical torque via a single beam. Nat. Commun. 16 , 593 (2025)..

Ali, A. M. et al. Optical chiral microrobot for out-of-plane rotation. Commun. Phys. 8 , 230 (2025)..

Chen, C. Y. et al. Acoustofluidic rotational tweezing enables high-speed contactless morphological phenotyping of zebrafish larvae. Nat. Commun. 12 , 1118 (2021)..

Ahmed, D. et al. Rotational manipulation of single cells and organisms using acoustic waves. Nat. Commun. 7 , 11085 (2016)..

Aghakhani, A. et al. Acoustically powered surface-slipping mobile microrobots. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 117 , 3469–3477 (2020)..

Zhao, S. G. et al. Topological acoustofluidics. Nat. Mater. 24 , 707–715 (2025)..

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

Bozuyuk, U. et al. Reduced rotational flows enable the translation of surface-rolling microrobots in confined spaces. Nat. Commun. 13 , 6289 (2022)..

Liu, Y. R. et al. Light-driven single-cell rotational adhesion frequency assay. eLight 2 , 13 (2022)..

Knight, J. B. et al. Hydrodynamic focusing on a silicon chip: mixing nanoliters in microseconds. Phys. Rev. Lett. 80 , 3863–3866 (1998)..

Paiè, P. et al. Straightforward 3D hydrodynamic focusing in femtosecond laser fabricated microfluidic channels. Lab a Chip 14 , 1826–1833 (2014)..

Weinert, F. M. et al. Microscale fluid flow induced by thermoviscous expansion along a traveling wave. Phys. Rev. Lett. 100 , 164501 (2008)..

Erben, E. et al. Opto-fluidically multiplexed assembly and micro-robotics. Light Sci. Appl. 13 , 59 (2024)..

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

Minopoli, A. et al. ISO-FLUCS: symmetrization of optofluidic manipulations in quasi-isothermal micro-environments. eLight 3 , 16 (2023)..

Mittasch, M. et al. Non-invasive perturbations of intracellular flow reveal physical principles of cell organization. Nat. Cell Biol. 20 , 344–351 (2018)..

Liao, W. et al. Theoretical model of confined thermoviscous flows for artificial cytoplasmic streaming. Phys. Rev. Fluids 8 , 034202 ( 2023)..

Erben, E. et al. Feedback-based positioning and diffusion suppression of particles via optical control of thermoviscous flows. Opt. Express 29 , 30272–30283 (2021)..

Liao, W. Flows inside cells: From natural cytoplasmic streaming to microfluidic systems. PhD thesis, University of Cambridge (2025).

Xuan, X. C., Zhu, J. J. & Church, C. Particle focusing in microfluidic devices. Microfluidics Nanofluidics 9 , 1–16 (2010)..

Yang, B. et al. DaXi—high-resolution, large imaging volume and multi-view single-objective light-sheet microscopy. Nat. Methods 19 , 461–469 (2022)..

Kreysing, M. et al. The optical cell rotator. Opt. Express 16 , 16984–16992 (2008)..

Kreysing, M. et al. Dynamic operation of optical fibres beyond the single-mode regime facilitates the orientation of biological cells. Nat. Commun. 5 , 5481 (2014)..

Atis, S. et al. Microbial range expansions on liquid substrates. Phys. Rev. X 9 , 021058 (2019)..

Kayser, J. et al. Collective motion conceals fitness differences in crowded cellular populations. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 3 , 125–134 (2019)..

Barner-Kowollik, C. et al. 3D laser micro- and nanoprinting: challenges for chemistry. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 56 , 15828–15845 (2017)..

Liao, W. & Lauga, E. Axisymmetric thermoviscous and thermal expansion flows for microfluidics. J. Eng. Math. 152 , 6 (2025)..

Kim, S.&Karrila, S. J. Microhydrodynamics: principles and selected applications. (Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991).

Azawy, A. K. et al. Physical and rheological properties of poly-floral honey from the Iraqi Kurdistan region and the effect of temperature on its viscosity. Curr. Nutr. Food Sci. 17 , 532–544 (2021)..

Biggs, D. S. C. & Andrews, M. Acceleration of iterative image restoration algorithms. Appl. Opt. 36 , 1766–1775 (1997)..

Hörl, D. et al. BigStitch er: reconstructing high-resolution image datasets of cleared and expanded samples. Nat. Methods 16 , 870–874 (2019)..

Schindelin, J. et al. Fiji: an open-source platform for biological-image analysis. Nat. Methods 9 , 676–682 (2012)..

Preibisch, S. et al. Efficient Bayesian-based multiview deconvolution. Nat. Methods 11 , 645–648 (2014)..

浏览量

Downloads

CSCD

文章被引用时，请邮件提醒。

Submit

工具集

关联资源

Generating vectorial optical fields via surface-wave-excited complex-amplitude metasurfaces

Ultrahigh-Q integrated flame-hydrolysis-deposited germano-silicate resonators on silicon

Ion agent mitigates efficiency roll-off in near-infrared electroluminescence for practical bioimaging and information encryption

Thouless quantum walks in topological flat bands

Reversible optical data storage and encryption enabled by phase-change and hydrogel integration