Fig. 1. Overview of optothermal rotation. Orbiting, in-plane and out-of-plane spinning of different colloids and living objects can stem from a variety of optothermal phenomena including thermophoresis, thermoelectricity, thermo-electrokinetics, thermo-osmosis, thermal convection, and thermo-capillarity. Optothermal rotation is promising in opening new paths toward single-cell mechanics, 3D bio-imaging, and micro/nanomotors.
