Dr. Jingang Li, University of California, Berkeley, will present on "Advancing Optical Manipulation and Measurement at the Nanoscale."

Light-matter interactions form the cornerstone of modern physics, from quantum mechanics to biophysics and condensed matter systems. In this talk, I will present novel optical technologies for versatile manipulation of nanomaterials and advanced characterization with high spatiotemporal resolution. First, I developed optothermal manipulation techniques to overcome the limitations of Nobel-physics-prize-winning optical tweezers. Specifically, opto-refrigerative tweezers exploit laser cooling and thermophoresis to mitigate common optical heating damages, enabling non-invasive analysis of cells and biomolecules. Then, extending from fluid environments, I pioneered optical manipulation at solid surfaces, enabling optical assembly and nanomotors for next-generation lab-on-a-chip systems. Apart from those, I will show the implementation of an ultrafast optical nanoscopy by integrating pump-probe optics with near-field imaging. This platform reveals intriguing carrier dynamics and energy transport in variousfunctional materials with nanoscale heterogeneity. Along the way, I will highlight the potential of these optical innovations to enable new fundamental insights into quantum systems and non-equilibrium physical phenomena and to provide solutions to cutting-edge sensing and measurement tools.