The Physics of micro- and nano-manipulation: Fundamentals and applications

Since the emergent advent of miniaturized technologies in the last century, the past ninety years have witnessed the extensive use of micro- and nano-manipulation methods, which were promoted by the tremendous advances in fundamental physics as well as in techniques for sensing and actuating and in award-winning precision instrumentation. Micro- and nano-manipulation techniques imply the application of distinct physical laws at distinct spatial scales, and in turn enabled unprecedented progress in a significant number of scientific disciplines, particularly in the life sciences and its biomedical applications. Today, scientists have to cope with a series of issues that are inherently related to theory implementations at micro- and nanoscales, in the attempt to reveal the underlying principles that can enhance the capability of manipulating micrometer and nanometer-sized objects. Our report has the aim of giving an extensive review of the major results achieved in the study of micro- and nano-manipulation, by focusing on how fundamental physics (from robotic manipulation to magnetic, acoustic and optical fields, to electric and fluidic methods) is elaborated and leveraged to gather control over small objects, and how novel techniques are conceptually designed and practically implemented for important tool sets. We also summarize the representative applications in many disciplines over the past decades and discuss potential trends and open problems for future studies.