Optical gecko toe: Optically controlled attractive near-field forces between plasmonic metamaterials and dielectric or metal surfaces

On the mesoscopic scale, electromagnetic forces are of fundamental importance to an enormously diverse range of systems, from optical tweezers to the adhesion of gecko toes. Here we show that a strong light-driven force may be generated when a plasmonic metamaterial is illuminated in close proximity to a dielectric or metal surface. This near-field force can exceed radiation pressure and Casimir forces to provide an optically controlled adhesion mechanism mimicking the gecko toe: At illumination intensities of just a few tens of nW/μm² it is sufficient to overcome the Earth's gravitational pull.