The experimental findings are corroborated by electrodynamics simulations. These results extend the list of plasmonic nanostructures that can be trapped in three dimensions by single-beam optical tweezers from nanoparticles and nanorods to much longer nanowires, which were formerly considered impossible to trap.

The results indicate that the previous concern – that absorption and scattering in large metal particles are too strong to allow single-beam optical trapping – is overly simplified. Other issues, such as colloidal stability and thermal effects, may play a role in determining which particles can and cannot be trapped, as well as the fact that absorption and scattering depend strongly on the composition and geometry of the metal particles.