The manipulation and assembly of CuO nanorods with line optical tweezers

Abstract

We present a simple technique for manipulating and assembling one-dimensional (1D) CuO nanorods. Our technique exploits the optical trapping ability of line optical tweezers to trap, manipulate and rotate nanorods without physical contact. With this simple and versatile method, nanorods can be readily arranged into interesting configurations. The optical line tweezers could also be used to manipulate an individual nanorod across two conducting electrodes. This work demonstrates the potential of optical manipulation and assembly of ID nanostructures into useful nanoelectronics devices.