Researchers at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg have developed microscopic, light-driven robots capable of navigating through liquids, actively collecting bacteria, and depositing them in specific target locations. These devices, smaller than one micrometer, use photon recoil: plasmonic nanoantennas on the robot absorb light of a specific color and helicity, then re-emit it in a particular direction, generating a tiny recoil force that propels and steers the device. The team demonstrated that these «microscopic cleaners» can selectively capture bacteria, transport them, and release them where needed, with potential applications in microbiology, biomedical research, and precise manipulation at the microscopic scale.
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