Active Matter and Fluids Research


Our research involves light-matter interaction of micro and nano systems in complex fluidic environments. We study how light can be utilized to manipulate the motion of microscopic and and nanoscopic particles as well as the creation of fast fluid flows. This work investigates the fundamental aspects of light, temperature and hydrodynamics. Our studies employs synthetic colloids as toy model of active matter system to induce self-propulsion, self-assembly and manipulation across multiple length scales. This is a highly interdisciplinary field involving microfluidics, soft matter physics and temperature engineering.

In particular my research involves:
  • nano and micro machines
  • optofluidics
  • microcavities and small forces
This addresses current scientific and technological challenges in developing novel methods, for example, in smart drug delivery systems, automated search-and-rescue missions, and soil and water remediation from environmental pollutants. Moreover, the study of small forces in micro cavities allows to understand and build a new generation of sensors whose enhanced sensitivity enables the detection of transient effects and molecules.

News & Events


Apr 22, 2025

OptoFluidiX 2025: International Conference on Advances in Optofluidics to Take Place in Leipzig

The international scientific community is invited to attend OptoFluidiX 2025, a conference dedicated to recent advances and future directions in the interdisciplinary field of optofluidics. The event will be held from September 16–18, 2025, at at Leipz... (Link)


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Apr 1, 2025

Talk of Falko Schmidt at Biophotonics Congress

Falko Schmidt is presenting a novel optofluidic platform for the precise manipulation of local fluid flows and particle movement at the Biophotonics Congress within the Optical Manipulation and its Applications Conference in Coronado, USA. Title of Ta...


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Jan 1, 2025

Falko Schmidt voted chair of the BT Technical Group at OPTICA

We’re excited to share that Falko Schmidt has been elected as the new Chair of the Optical Trapping and Manipulation in Molecular and Cellular Biology Technical Group within Optica. His three-year term will span from 2025 to 2027, during which he will ... (Link)


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Research Projects




Light-induced micro and nano machines


Optical tweezers are used to induce rotational motion of nanoparticles and microparticles effectively creating miniaturised versions of macroscopic engines.




Self-assembled active matter


Under light illumination a suspension of binary colloids self-assembles into active hierarchical superstructures providing insights into the formation process of biological systems.




3D Optofluidics and Thermal Imaging


The local heating of fluids with light leads to complex pattern of flows that can be steered and measured with light using optofluidics and thermometry.


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Publications




Non–steady state thermometry with optical diffraction tomography


Adarsh B Vasista, Bernard Ciraulo, Falko Schmidt, Jaime Ortega Arroyo, Romain Quidant

Science Advances, vol. 10(12), 2024, pp. eadk5440




3D Optofluidic Control Using Reconfigurable Thermal Barriers


Falko Schmidt, Carlos David Gonzalez-Gomez, Emilio Ruiz-Reina, Raul A. Rica, Jaime Ortega Arroyo, Romain Quidant

arXiv, arXiv.2410.15708, 2024




Nanoalignment by Critical Casimir Torques


Gan Wang, Piotr Nowakowski, Nima Farahmand Bafi, Benjamin Midtvedt, Falko Schmidt, Ruggero Verre, Mikael Käll, S. Dietrich, Svyatoslav Kondrat, Giovanni Volpe

Nature Communications, vol. 15(5086), 2024


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About Me:

Dr. Falko Schmidt has defended his doctoral thesis in 2021 from the physics department at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. He is currently an independent PostDoctoral Fellow at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland working on 3D optofluidics.
He has over 9 years of experience in building holographic optical setups for experiments on the optical manipulation of micro- and nanosystems. He is the author of 7 scientific peer-reviewed articles published in renowned journals (e.g. Nature Physics, Nature Communications, Physical Review Letters, ACS Photonics). He is also the co-founder of Lucero AB, a spin-off from research at the University of Gothenburg developing automated manipulation solutions for single cells in drug screening purposes.

Contact


Dr. Falko Schmidt

SNSF PostDoctoral Fellow



Nanophotonics Systems Laboratory

ETH Zurich

Tannenstrasse 3, CLA E15.2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland


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