Tying the knot with computer-generated holograms: Winding optical path moves matter

In the latest twist on optical knots, New York University (NYU) physicists have discovered a new method to create extended and knotted optical traps in three dimensions. This method, which the NYU scientists describe in the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express, produces 'bright' knots, where the maximum of the light intensity traces out a knotted trajectory in space, for the first time allowing microscopic objects to be trapped along the path of the knot. The method may even, one day, help enable fusion energy as a practical power source, according to the NYU team...

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